Pumpkins in Pre-K!

During this time of year, our favorite orange fruit starts adorning our porches with silly

faces, paint and other embellishments.  Did you think of an orange?  Try again… the orange

fruit is a PUMPKIN!  Did you know that pumpkins are considered fruits?  Pumpkins grow

from a blossom on their vine that develops into the beautiful orange fruit that we love to carve

and eat this time of year.  

In preschool, we have been learning about pumpkins this week.  We learned that a pumpkin

starts out as a small seed, is planted in dirt, needs water and sun, and then it starts to sprout. 

The sprout looks like any other sprout; tiny, green, two leaves, then it is ready to make its debut

to the world!  As the sprout grows, it starts to take on a different trajectory. Instead of growing

straight up like a flower or a tree, this stem starts to lay down and turns into a vine which starts

to grow longer and longer, and then orange or yellow blossoms start to appear.  When those blossoms

are pollinated, they start the process of becoming pumpkins, which over time we are able to harvest

and enjoy in October.  

After we learned about how a pumpkin grows, we were able to carve a pumpkin and observe all

the part, inside and out, that make it such a cool fruit.  First, we observed the rind, stem and ribs

of the pumpkin. 

           

Once we did that, we were ready to see the contents of the pumpkin.  We cut off the top, and

took a look inside.  We could see all of the seeds, fibrous strands and pulp.  Then, it was time

to dig in! 

We took turns scooping the contents out with our bare hands to get the best sensory experience. 

If we did not want to scoop, we could rub the sliced part of the pumpkin to feel how slimy it

was. 

Once the pumpkin was cleaned out, it was time to carve it!  We decided that we wanted a

happy pumpkin, so we gave our pumpkin a happy face.  It turned out perfect! 

The next day, we had another surprise!  Ms. Tulo took the pumpkin seeds home and

made roasted pumpkin seeds!  They were so yummy and tasted just like popcorn! 

We had a great time learning about pumpkins!