Easy Ways to Learn with Apples and Pumpkins

There are so many crafts and activities you can do with apples and pumpkins, and it’s actually really simple to incorporate them into learning activities. I was reminded of this when looking at the Halloween STEM activities, and by this post on measuring the circumference of a pumpkin from Gift of Curiosity.

Of course you could do that with an apple, too, though it is more dramatic if you have a variety of pumpkins to measure.

And you don’t have to stop with circumference. You can measure how tall a pumpkin or apple is, how much they weigh. Hypothesize whether bigger pumpkins or apples will weigh more and experiment.

Making pumpkins and apples float is always fun, and away from science and math you can always draw pumpkins, paint on pumpkins, make apple stamps, write about your produce…there are just so many great ideas!

How do you use pumpkins and apples to learn? I’d love to hear your ideas.

[Photo: Gift of Curiosity.] Looking for more resources? Check out these board games for learning Math and Multiplication?

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Apple Sensory Play Ideas

One way to help teach kids about Thanksgiving and why it’s important to be grateful is by reading books, and Little Mole Gives Thanks by Glenys Nellist, illustrated by Sally Garland, is a sweet story about the value of friendship and sharing.

Little Mole has made a feast and invited some very important guests, but when they all cancel at the last minute, Mole is reminded that the most important people in his life are his friends and family. All the animals in the forest join together and have a feast, raising a glass to the creatures who are always there for them.

It’s a quick little story but it’s sweet, and the book also includes a little information about how you can plan your own fancy forest feast.

This would be a really fun thing to do with a preschool group. You could read the book and plan your own fancy forest feast, which could be a regular lunch made fancy by eating outside and making some fun decorations for the table or picnic area. Families could bring food or kids can help prepare a treat in the classroom, depending on how you’re set up.

I also love the idea of using a book like this to talk about the people who are important in our lives. Mole’s special guests — the school principal, a firefighter and the mayor — are all important people and worth being thankful for, but in our day-to-day lives, the people who are closest to us are really the ones who are most important and who we should be thankful for. But it’s easy to forget showing gratitude to people we see all the time.

And that’s really what Thanksgiving is all about! Giving thanks for those people who are important to us on special days, but on every other day, too. Little Mole Gives Thanks is an easy way to start those conversations with little kids.

About the book: 32 pages, hardcover, published 2023 by Beaming Books, suggested retail price $17.99.

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