Fall Educational Ideas

Try out these fun yet educational Fall activities and reading suggestions!

Thanks to Amy, a Calvert Education Counselor, for these great Fall activities and reading suggestions. Try them out, and let us know what you think!

Pumpkin Activities

Using 3 or more uncarved pumpkins, do the following:

• Ask the child to estimate the weight of the pumpkins. Put them in order from least to greatest. Weigh the pumpkins to see if the estimate was correct.
• Ask the child to estimate the circumference of the pumpkins.
• Measure the circumference of each pumpkin using a piece of string.
• Ask the child to estimate the number of seeds in each pumpkin. Cut open the pumpkin and count the number of seeds together. Think of ways to effectively count the number of seeds, such as counting by 2’s, 3’s, or 5’s.
• Have the child graph any of the data gathered from the activities listed above.
• Roast the pumpkin seeds for a healthy treat!

Food Fun

• For younger children—using fun sized bags of M&M’s or Skittles, create edible bar graphs based upon color. Practice comparing statements…”There are two more orange candies than brown candies.”
• For older children—use fun sized bags of M&M’s or Skittles to teach about percentages, ratios, or proportions. Find the percentage of candy that is a certain color, determine the proportion of the candy that is a specific color, etc.
• Have fun learning about fractions while baking. Practice reading fractions and practice measurement skills by baking fall favorites such as pumpkin pie, apple crisp, or pumpkin bread. Challenge older students to double the recipe.
• Compare and contrast two different recipes for pumpkin pie using a Venn diagram.

Suggested Reading (click on book title for link to Amazon.com)

• Pumpkins: A Story for a Field by Mary Lyn Ray and Barry Root
• Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert
• Pumpkin Circle: The Story of a Garden by George Levenson and Shmuel Thaler
• Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper
• Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert
• The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall and Shari Halpern