As soon as fall hit, I start scouring the grocery stores and visiting the farmers markets looking for pumpkins. I have a slight obsession with pumpkins and fall science, which I guess my kids have followed along with as well. We’ve been doing a ton of simple fall science explorations, starting with this super simple pumpkin tracing.
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Encouraging children to ask questions and investigate the world around them doesn’t have to be tricky or take a lot of fancy materials. This simple fall science activity can be done with just a pumpkin and a few crayons.
Simple Fall Science | Pumpkin Tracing
I am not kidding, all you need for this activity is a pumpkin, a few crayons and some paper. If you want something a little fancier, we used our printable Pumpkin Observation Kit (I’ll share more about this later)
Step One | Trace Pumpkin with Fingers
Before we got started with markers and crayons, we explored and observed the pumpkins with our tactile systems. We felt the ridges. We counted how many ridges each pumpkin had, and we covered the pumpkin with paper and tried to see if we could find the ridges.
Step Two | Trace Pumpkin Ridges
Next, we used markers to trace the pumpkin ridges. Everyone loved the visual to see the ridges. This activity is easy enough for a toddler and exciting enough for a middle schooler.
Step Three | Pumpkin Rubbings
Using the side of your crayons, rub the skin of the pumpkin to notice the nuances of the rind. We did the rubbings a few ways. We did it without the ridges traced and with.
This is just one of the pumpkin activities we have been doing and I can’t wait to share all the fun activities with you!
While you wait, we have some more awesome pumpkin and fall science ideas you can try with you kids!
20 Must Try Fall Science Experiments
Top Ten Candy Science Experiments
Building with Candy Pumpkins
