Pumpkin Jack

Our fall pumpkin unit is one of our favourite inquiries. At preschool, we love pumpkins, or “punks” as one of our youngest students affectionately calls them.

As we explore pumpkins we are learning more about God’s creation. Not just about the pumpkin itself, but about the cycles of life that God has created. We love to open up a pumpkin and marvel at the treasures hidden inside – gooey, stringy pulp, cool flesh and more seeds than we know how to count yet!

We use pumpkins to help build our math skills as we order them by size, measure them using non-standard units, or weigh them on a scale.

We love to strengthen our coordination and fine motor skills as we hammer golf tees into the pumpkins!

Our literacy skills grow as we read books about pumpkins and learn to recognize the letter “P,p” and its sound.

This year we tried something different. We read the book Pumpkin Jack by Will Hubbell. As we read about how a pumpkin decays we wondered: what would happen if we kept our pumpkin a little longer in our classroom?

Each week we are observing the changes to our own “Pumpkin Jack”, and we are creating a photo diary to document Jack’s journey.

We think he must be getting ready for winter because he is growing a fuzzy coat!