Pumpkin Fun

3 To make pumpkins, children

can scrunch facial tissues into
a ball. Then they can wrap another
Shaare
Book
facial tissue smoothly around the
ball, tie it with a piece of string,
and cut off the excess tissue. Invite Pumpkin Circle: The Story
children to make tiny and larger of a Garden by George
pumpkins and to paint them green, Levenson (Tricycle Press,
1999). Through fabulous,
pale orange, dark orange, and so
colorful close-up photos,
on, to illustrate the stages of a young readers see the
pumpkins growth. growth of a pumpkin from
seed to plump jack-o-lantern.

4 When the hats and pumpkins are dry, stock stations with
decorating materials for illustrating a pumpkins life cycle around
the brim of the hat.

{ Children can start by attaching a pumpkin seed with glue.

{ Next, they can add a sprout and leaves made from a short piece of Shaare m
Po e
a green pipe cleaner and construction paper.
{ For the vine and leaves, they can use green pipe cleaners, yarn or
Copy the poem below on
ribbon, and construction paper. (Twirl crepe paper streamers tightly chart paper. Then invite
and glue the ends.) children to don their hats and
{ To make pumpkin blossoms, gather a small square recite the poem together!
(about 1 by 1 inch) of yellow tissue paper or crepe
paper around the eraser end of a pencil. Place a dot of Pumpkin Patch
glue on one of the vines, and then press the tissue-
covered eraser on the dot of glue; remove the pencil. Look out, patch! Look ou
t, ground!
Finally, have children add the pumpkins they made, Giant pumpkins are all aro
{ und!
attaching them to the vines. Starting from a tiny seed,
In just four months, they
grow indeed!
The pumpkins get so rou
nd and fat,
Up to two hundred pounds
imagine that!
Clinging to a long, green
vine,
So thick and orange, so sw
eet and fine!
The pumpkins grow in gre
at supply!
I cant wait for pumpkin
pie!
Meish Goldish

Quick Crafts: Apples, Pumpkins & Harvest Deborah Schecter, Scholastic Teaching Resources
21
 Pumpkin Fun
Literacy Link
Let the word piata be the
first word on a Spanish
word wall! What other
Spanish words can your
students add? Invite
children to contribute to
the wall by writing Spanish
words, along with their
English translation, on
pumpkin-shaped cards.
Safety Note
Make sure the rest of the
class is at a safe distance
from the piata when
children are swatting at it.
22
Pumpkin Piata
These easy paper bag piatas, filled with toys and treats,
will be a hit at your classroom Halloween party!
M A T E R I A L S
{ paper lunch bags { scissors
{ tempera paints and { yarn
brushes { colored tissue paper
{ crayons or markers { small toys and wrapped
{ tissue paper, wiggle eyes, candies
and other decorating { green yarn
materials (optional)
{ cardboard gift wrap tube
{ scrap paper or newspaper { scarf (to serve as a
(or recycled packing blindfold)
peanuts)
1 Divide the class into small groups. Give each group a
paper lunch bag, paints and brushes, and crayons or
markers. Invite children to paint the lower three-quarters
of the bag orange and the upper quarter green. Let the
paint dry.
2 Have children paint or draw a pumpkin face on the
front and back of the orange portions of the bag.
They may decorate them with wiggle eyes, tissue paper
and fabric scraps, yarn, crepe paper streamers, and so on.
3 Give each group plenty of scrap paper or newspaper to tear into small
strips. Also provide an assortment of small toys and wrapped candies
and a piece of green yarn. Tell children to stuff the bags, up to the green
portion, with the paper strips, toys, and candies. To give the pumpkin a
rounder shape, they can poke in the bottom corners of the bag.
4 Show children how to twist the green portion of the bag to make a
stem and then tie the bag closed with the green yarn vine.
5 Tie the pumpkins to a clothesline strung across your classroom. Let
children in each group take turns donning a blindfold. Then hand
them an empty cardboard gift wrap tube, and invite them to try their
luck at breaking open the piata and spilling out the toys and treats.
Quick Crafts: Apples, Pumpkins & Harvest Deborah Schecter, Scholastic Teaching Resources