Pumpkins!

Today, at Blue Preschool, we talked about Pumpkins. After reviewing the calendar and weather, I introduced the number 4 and the letter C. I drew a large "C" on the Magnadoodle, and each child had a chance to trace it. They really liked the hands-on. We all practiced doing the letter "C" in sign language.
Next, we read a book called, "The Pumpkin Patch Parable." Very cute story, darling pictures, and it held their attention pretty well. We then reviewed how a pumpkin grows with a short flannel board story:
We talked about the different things we can do with a pumpkin: decoration, food, seeds, jack-o-lanterns. We talked about the difference between a pumpkin and a jack-o-lantern. Then we sang a few songs about both:

ONE LITTLE PUMPKIN (to the tune of "One, little, two, little, three little Indians")

One little pumpkin smiling, smiling. (Hold up one finger and then make a smiley face!)
One little pumpkin smiling, smiling.
One little pumpkin smiling, smiling.
One little pumpkin is happy. (Smile and put your fingers on your cheeks.)

Two little pumpkins pouting, pouting. (Hold up two fingers and then frown and look down.)
Two little pumpkins pouting, pouting.
Two little pumpkins pouting, pouting.
Two little pumpkins are grumpy. (Cross your arms and frown.)

Three little pumpkins yawning, yawning. (Hold up three fingers and then cover your mouth with your hand as you yawn.)
Three little pumpkins yawning, yawning.
Three little pumpkins yawning, yawning.
Three little pumpkins are sleepy. (Stretch and yawn like you are falling asleep.)

Four little pumpkins crying, crying. (Hold up four fingers and then pretend to wipe a tear from your eye.)
Four little pumpkins crying, crying.
Four little pumpkins crying, crying.
Four little pumpkins are sad. (Wipe tears from both eyes with both hands.)

Five little pumpkins laughing, laughing. (Hold up five fingers and then hold your tummy as you pretend to laugh.)
Five little pumpkins laughing, laughing.
Five little pumpkins laughing, laughing.
Five little pumpkins are playing. (Run around the room!)

FIVE LITTLE PUMPKINS

Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate;

The first one said, "Oh my it's getting late."

The second one said, "There are witches in the air."

The third one said, "But I don't care."

The fourth one said, "I'm ready for some fun!"

The fifth one said, "Let's run and run and run."

"Wooooooo" went the wind,

And out went the lights.

And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.

Jack-O-Happy
(Original Author Unknown) Instruct children to make big circles around their heads using their arms.

This is Jack-O-Happy. (Children smile.)
This is Jack-O-Sad. (Children frown.)
This is Jack-O-Scared. (Children make frightened expression.)
This is Jack-O-Mad. (Children make angry expression.)
This is Jack-O-Silly. (Children make silly expression.)
This is Jack-O-Glad. (Children smile again.)

(We got some really cute faces for each of these emotions. Moms- try it at home with your preschooler & see the cute silly & scared faces!)

Next, we moved to the hands-on part of the lesson: exploring the inside of a pumpkin! We cut a medium-sized pumpkin into pieces and each boy got one piece to explore. We talked about which parts would make good food and which would not. We talked about what it looks, smells and feels like. Some of the boys were brave and touched the slimy pulp. (Others wanted nothing to do with it and kept their hands clean!) The boys each got a spoon and happily chopped away at their piece of pumpkin.

Our snack was Pumpkin Chocolate Chip bread. EVERYONE loved it and even asked for more.
The activity for the Blue Preschool book was decorating an ORANGE OVAL to look like a pumpkin or jack-o-lantern.

We ended the lesson by enjoying the nice weather outside for some free time. We ran and played a lot of "duck-duck-goose" and "red light, green light." (and other games that three-year-old boys play, which have no name but involve a lot of running and screaming.)

(EW, P, EM, G, J, & T - all sporting some orange!)