The Preschool Homeschool

October is a great time to get a jump-start on a seed unit. While spring is the ideal time, letting all those pumpkin seeds go to waste is a shame. We carved up two jack-o-lanterns today and the kids really enjoyed taking all the stuff out of the pumpkin. Well my daughter enjoyed separating the seeds from the pulp, while my son enjoyed digging it all out. Opening a pumpkin is a great opportunity to teach kids how things grow from seeds, and show them how something so large can come from something so small.

We have eight pumpkins this year that we grew ourselves. So the kids took extra pride in carving their jack-o-lantern, knowing they planted and cared for this pumpkin when it was just a blossom. After we cleaned out the pumpkin, the kids and I washed and dried the seeds. Then I toasted them in the oven for about an hour and let the kids try them. They were both interested in trying them, but neither cared for the taste. After adding some sugar and pumpkin pie spice, my daughter liked them.

They learned that not only do seeds grow things, but they’re nutritious and tasty too.  Here are some ideas for a pumpkin seed unit:

Have your child pull seeds out of a pumpkin, wash them, dry them, and toast them in the oven.

Let your child help season them with salt, sugar or spices.

Print out a pumpkin picture. Let your child glue dried pumpkin seeds onto the pumpkin.

Make a chart that shows all the different things a pumpkin seed does. It provides pumpkins, is useful for crafts, can be eaten by people and animals and grows a large plant from just one seed.

Use pumpkin seeds for counting and sorting activities.

Use clay to show the life cycle of a pumpkin seed. Start by sticking a pumpkin seed into green clay to resemble the ground. Then do another green piece with the seed sprouting. Use paper and other craft materials to make a plant come from the seed. Then hollow out an orange clay ball and fill it with pumpkin seeds. Make another orange ball, fill it with seeds, then have your child clean the pumpkin out. Lastly, let them make pumpkin seeds out of white clay and pretend to toast and season them.

Have fun!

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