Fall Homeschool Pumpkin
Unit Study
by Megan Mora Fuentes
Start your fall homeschooling with a “basic” pumpkin unit study that is anything but basic! Hammer golf tees into pumpkins to practice fine motor skills; experiment with pumpkin pie-spiced sensory play ideas; make your own easy pumpkin puree to incorporate the surprisingly healthy fruit into a variety of creative and versatile recipes; and learn how to use a pumpkin to teach math, science, geography, and more! Check out this Homeschool Living for some great pumpkin unit study ideas to enrich your fall homeschool.
Teaching Fall Homeschool With Pumpkins
This fall unit study from The Crafty Classroom includes math, geography, science, art, and cooking activities featuring pumpkins.
Guide younger students through the life cycle of a pumpkin with this paper plate craft that they’ll be able to refer back to throughout your pumpkin unit study.
Healthy Pumpkins
If you’ve never thought much about pumpkins outside of the pies and lattes, it’s time to change that! Pumpkins are a surprisingly healthy, nutrient dense, low-calorie (when not packed with tons of added sugar) fall staple. Check out these nine health benefits of pumpkins for more details on their nutritional value.
Experiment with incorporating pumpkin into your meals with these 23 kid-friendly, healthy pumpkin recipes. Most of these recipes can be made with canned pumpkin puree or homemade. Note that fresh pumpkin puree often has a higher water content than canned, so be aware of that as you experiment with new recipes.
Take advantage of the fruit while it’s readily available and make your own pumpkin puree. It’s easier than you think, and you can even freeze or can extra puree for later use.
Hands-on Pumpkins
A sunny autumn afternoon is the perfect time for these pumpkin sensory play activities–of course all of these can be done indoors, but potentially messy activities are best outside when the weather allows. Preschoolers can practice fine motor skills with this pumpkin hammering activity, and these pumpkin pie spice sensory play activities are great for a wide range of student ages.
This sensory play slime is a great activity for you to prepare as a surprise for younger children, or for older children to make with you.
