Pumpkin Faces, by Emma Rose

This very simple text helps children be aware of faces. This is a cute book to begin a discussion about emotions and also to give the children ideas for drawing their own pumpkin faces.

Materials

A pumpkin shape from poster board or paper plate with holes punched out about ¼ inch from the edge and ½ inch apart all the way around.
Ribbon or yarn
2 or 3 pumpkins.
Metal Spoons for scooping a pumpkin

Vocabulary

Jack-o-lantern (a pumpkin that someone has made a face on)
Naming a variety of emotions
Emotions (the different ways that you feel during the day)

Before Reading the Story

Bring a pumpkin to the carpet and ask the children what it is. Find out what they know about pumpkins. Do pumpkins grow in trees? What do you think is inside of a pumpkin? I wonder if they ever grow purple pumpkins? Roll the pumpkin around the circle. Can you think of other things that you can roll?

Language Development/Speaking & Communicating; develops increasing abilities to understand and use language to communicate information, experiences, ideas, feelings, opinions, needs, questions; and for other varied purposes. AND Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge of and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, materials, living things, and natural processes.

Reading the Story

As you read, go slowly to see if the children can interpret the pumpkin face and name before you read the word.

After Reading the Story

Enlarge copies of 3-5 pumpkin faces. Hold one up and ask the children if they can tell you what feeling the pumpkin is representing. Then ask them to share something that makes them feel that way. (I get scared when my Dad turns off the light at night. I feel proud cause I can ride my bike with two wheels. I was mad cause my sister took my toy and threw it on the ground and it broke).

Discovery

Put a pumpkin into the science center. Cut the top so the children can begin to pull the guts out and explore the pumpkin using all of their senses. If the children are hesitant to putting their hands inside the pumpkin, cut the pumpkin in half so that it is easier and less gooey to scoop. As the children work, write down their responses to how it feels, smells, tastes, what did you find inside, how does the outside feel, etc..

Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; develops growing abilities to collect, describe, and record information through a variety of means including discussion, drawings, maps, and charts.

Music and Movement

Sing, If You’re Happy and You Know It. Sing using different emotions with each verse. Have the children make the facial and body language to go with each emotion.

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; demonstrates increasing ability to attend to and understand conversations, stories, songs, and poems.

Teach the children the poem, Scary Eyes.

See these big and scary eyes, (Make two circle with hands and put around eyes) It’s a Halloween Surprise. BOO! (Wait a beat and then Pop hands away from eyes)

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; demonstrates increasing ability to attend to and understand conversations, stories, songs, and poems.

Blocks

Encourage the children to build ramps and then find things that they will roll down. Have the children sort things that roll and do not roll. Can they tell what all the rolling objects have in common? (roundness)

Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; begins in simple investigations to test observations, discuss and draw conclusions, and form generalizations.

Art

Put large pumpkin shapes at the easel. The children can paint pumpkins or try to make a jack-o-lantern face.

Creative Arts/Art; progresses in abilities to create drawings, paintings, models, and other art creations that are more detailed, creative, or realistic. AND Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills; progresses in abilities to use writing , drawing, and art tools, including pencils,markers, chalk, paint brushes, and various types of technology.

Library and Writing

Play the Pumpkin Memory game. The children find pairs of pumpkins and then must name the emotion and something that would make them feel that way.

Mathematics/Patterns & Measurement; shows increasing abilities to match, sort, put in a series, and regroup objects according to one or two attributes such as shape or size. AND Approaches to Learning/Engagement & Persistence; grows in abilities to persist in and complete a variety of tasks, activities, projects, and experiences.

Sand and Water

Do a float and sink experiment today. Fill the water table up with water and then ask the children if they think a pumpkin will float or sink. Put a pumpkin into the table and see what happens. Encourage the children to explore further float and sink .

Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; begins to participate in simple investigations to test observations, discuss and draw conclusions, and form generalizations.

Dramatic Play

If you have old Halloween costumes you could put them in the center for the children to experience with. (I have found that children like old hats and wigs also but you must make sure that no one has lice in your classroom).

Approaches to Learning/Initiative & Curiosity; chooses to participate in an increasing variety of tasks and activities.

Math and Manipulatives

Give each child a pumpkin shape with holes punched out all around the edges. Show the children how to lace the ribbon through the holes to go around the pumpkin. When the child has finished lacing the pumpkin, encourage them to draw a face.

Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills; grows in hand-eye coordination in building with blocks, putting together puzzles, reproducing shapes and patterns, stringing beads, and using scissors. AND Creative Arts/Art; progresses in abilities to create drawings, paintings, models, and other art creations that are more detailed, creative, or realistic.

Outdoor Play

Practice rolling on the grass.

Physical Health & Development/Health Status & Practices; progresses in physical growth, strength, stamina, and flexibility.

Transitions

Let each child pick a pumpkin face card and act out the expression. Can the other children guess what emotion the child is trying to express?

Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & Problem Solving; grows in recognizing and solving problems through active exploration, including trial and error, and interactions and discussions with peers and adults.

Resource

Johnny Appleseed, by Steven Kellogg

September 26^th, is the birthday of Johnny Appleseed. This is a great time of year to introduce the children to this folk hero and to have fun with apples.

Materials

Apple for cutting or tracing the words
Several varieties of apples for the children to try
Small White paper plate per child.
Shades of red, yellow, and green tissue paper.
Apple tree growth cycle
Apple trees for blocks

Vocabulary

Apple varieties of those being used in your taste testing
Sapling (a seedling, in this case a tiny apple tree)
Respectful (showing care and thoughtfulness)
Boisterous (loud and noisy)

Before Reading the Story

Bring an apple to the rug and ask the children to guess what shape is inside the apple. After the children have guessed, cut the apple in half and show them the star shape that the seeds make. Tell them that there is a star inside every apple. Count the seeds. There are always 5 seeds inside an apple and they make the shape of a star. Ask the children to repeat back how many seeds are in an apple? What shape do the seeds make? Tell the children that today’s story is about an apple star named Johnny Appleseed. He is an apple star because he planted apples all over the United States for people to enjoy.

Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge of and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, ,materials, living things, and natural processes.

Reading the Story

After reading a page, stop and talk about it if you feel your children are getting lost. This story is more difficult for younger preschool children but is a good introduction into an American Historical figure (social studies) and fun to do in the fall when apples are always fresh and in season.

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; understands an increasingly complex and varied vocabulary. AND Language Development/Listening & Understanding; demonstrates increasing ability to attend to and understand conversations, stories, songs, and poems.

After Reading the Story

Talk about how Johnny was respectful of nature. Ask the children if they know what respectful means. Talk about ways that the children are respectful of nature. (I don’t step on the bugs when they are on the playground. I only smell the flowers and not pick them, I don’t take the leaves off the bushes cause the bush needs leaves). Talk about how the children show concern and thoughtfulness towards one another and the school environment. (I am nice to her when she plays with me, I throw the paper in the garbage and not the floor).

Social & Emotional Development/Self-Control; develops growing understanding of how their actions affect others and begins to accept the consequences for their actions.

Discovery

Appleseed growth cycle cards. Can the children put them in 1-6 order?

Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge of and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, materials, living things, and natural processes.

Put out apples and plastic knives for the children to dissect and use their senses to discover apples. How does the apple feel, taste, smell, sound when you bite it?

Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; begins to participate in simple investigations to test observations, discuss and draw conclusions, and form generalizations.

Music and Movement

Teach the children the following poems,

Eat an apple

Save the Core

Plant the Seeds

And grow some more!

Science/Scientific Knowledge; shows increased awareness and beginning understanding of changes in materials and cause-effect relationships.

________________________________________

Way up high in the apple tree,

Two red apples smiled down on me.

I shook the tree as hard as I could,

Down fell the apples and they were good!

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; demonstrates increasing ability to attend to and understand conversations, stories, songs, and poems.

Sing, I like to eat apples and bananas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5WLXZspD1M

Literacy/Phonological Awareness; shows increasing ability to discriminate and identify sounds in spoken language.

Blocks

Tape simple apple trees to rectangular blocks and encourage the children to make rows and patterns.

Mathematics/Patterns & Measurement; enhances abilities to recognize, duplicate, and extend simple patterns using a variety of materials.

Art

Give each child a white paper plate. Use small squares of tissue paper and glue to collage. When it is dry, add a stem and leaf to make an apple shape. Encourage the child completely fill in the paper plate with tissue paper squares?

Creative Arts/Art;progresses in abilities to create drawings, paintings, models, and other creations that are detailed, creative, or realistic.

Library and Writing

Give each child an apple shape. Ask them to cut out the apple along the dark line and then use markers to go over the light lines to write, thank you Johnny Appleseed.

Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills; grows in hand-eye coordination in building with blocks, putting together puzzles, reproducing shapes and patterns, stringing beads, and using scissors. AND Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills; progresses in abilities to use writing, drawing, and art tools; including pencils, markers, chalk, paint brushes, and various types of technology.

Sand and Water

Put dirt in the table today along with unifix cubes. The children can pretend that the unifix cubes are apple seeds and plant them. Then they can dig for the seeds and collect them by color. How many red unifix cubes did you find? How many green?

Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to use one-to-one correspondence in counting objects and matching groups of objects.

Dramatic Play

Math and Manipulatives

Make s simple tree picture on a large sheet of construction paper for each child who will play the game. 3-4 children at a time is a good number. Give each child a pile of 15 red dots/ apples. The children take turns tossing a dice and then putting that number of apples/dots onto their tree. The first child to get 15 onto their tree is the winner.

Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to associate number concepts, vocabulary, and quantities, and written numerals in meaningful ways.

Outdoor Play

Let the children dig small holes around the playground or in the sand box and pretend to plant seeds.

Physical Health & Development/Health Status & Practices; progresses in physical growth, strength, stamina, and flexibility.

Look for seeds on the playground. If you find seeds, collect them and bring them in to the discovery center. Can the children identify what kinds of seeds they are?

Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; developers growing abilities to collect, describe, and record information through a variety of means, including discussion, drawings, maps, and charts.

Transitions

Bring in several kinds of apples. Let the children each try a small piece of each and then graph the one that they liked best.

Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; developers growing abilities to collect, describe, and record information through a variety of means, including discussion, drawings, maps, and charts. AND Social & Emotional Development/Self-Concepts; begins to develop and express awareness of self in terms of specific abilities, characteristics, and preferences.

Resources

**Make 4-5 sets of copies and color the apples red, yellow, and green. Use in blocks to make apple tree patterns.**

Mousekin’s Golden House, by Edna Miller

A little mouse is searching for a house to sleep in through the winter. What will he find, will he be safe? This is a beautifully illustrated story.

Materials

1 origami mouse per child and several extra for the block center. Directions for origami mice https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjPo3P-Wn_Y
Mouse mask

Vocabulary

Forest (woods)
Swooped (to fly quickly down)
Sulking (to pout angrily)
Hibernate (pass the winter sleeping “Certain animals hibernate because food supplies become scarce during the winter months. By going into a long deep sleep, they bypass this period completely, waking up when food becomes more plentiful”.

Before Reading the Story

Ask the children if they know what a jack-o-lantern is? Ask them if they made a jack-o-lantern last Halloween? What shape eyes, nose, and mouth did you make? Let the children share any jack-o-lantern stories that they may have.

Reading the Story

When you get to the page where Mousekin saw something in the path left over from Halloween, ask the children if they can guess what it might have been?

After Reading the Story

Go back through the story and talk about the pictures. Ask the children if they can tell what season different pages represent. Explain that some animals hibernate all winter. Talk about the turtle and how he goes inside his shell when he is afraid. Show the children the forest and talk about other animals who might live in the forest.

Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge of and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, materials, living things, and natural processes.

Discovery

Put a jack-o-lantern inside of the classroom where the children can observe it. You can also carve an apple into a head shape and leave out to observe. After several days the apple head will start to look like a shrunken head. As the fruits start to wrinkle, call attention and let the children begin to share daily observations. Have them draw their observations of the pumpkin weekly. Does it still look the same?

Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; develops growing abilities to collect, describe, and record information through a variety of means, including discussion, drawings, maps, and charts.

Bring in a box of soft and hard things for the children to sort. Try to bring in some natural objects like moss, cotton fluff, sticks, and rocks as well as man made items.

Science/Scientific SKills & Methods; begins to use senses and a variety of tools t and simple measuring devices to gather information, investigate materials, and observe processes and relationships.

Music and Movement

Explain to the children that when a mouse or other small creature sees an owl or other enemy in the wild, they often freeze. Put on music with different beats. Encourage the children to move to the beat and t when the music stops they must freeze in whatever position they are in.

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; shows progress in understanding and following simple and multiple-step directions. AND Movement/ expresses through movement and dancing what is felt and heard to various musical tempos and styles.

Sing, Can You Make a Happy Face Jack-o-lantern. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8b4f5fhYuw&vl=en

Teach the children the Parts of a Pumpkin that is shared by primarythemepark.com. (See resources)

Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge of and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, materials, living things, and natural processes.

Blocks

Give the children toy mice or make several origami mice that they can use to build a mouse house for.

Creative Arts/Dramatic Play; participates in a variety of dramatic play activities that become more extended and complex.

Art

Put large pumpkin shapes on the easel. The children can paint them fanciful or add faces.

Creative Arts/Art; gains ability in using different art media and materials in a variety of ways for creative expression and representation.

Give each child a pumpkin shape. Have them collage cotton and leaves onto the pumpkin. Glue their origami mouse onto the pumpkin. On the top of the pumpkin write “This pumpkin is my home”.

Creative Arts/Art; gains ability in using different art media and materials in a variety of ways for creative expression and representation.

Library and Writing

Talk to the children about different kinds of homes that animals and people live in. Ask then children to draw a picture of where they would like to live and then write their description at the bottom of the page. (I would want to be a mermaid and live with Ariel. I want to live in my house with my family. I would live in a nest like a bird).

Social & Emotional Development/Self-Concept; begins to develop and express awareness of self in terms of specific abilities, characteristics, and preferences.

Sand and Water

Use Water Jelly Crystals in your table today. As they start to grow, talk to your children about the changes that they see happening.

Scientific Skills & Methods; begins to participate in simple investigations to test observations, discuss and draw conclusions, and form generalizations.

Dramatic Play

Make several mouse masks for the children to use in the center. They can pretend that they are mice and make a soft, warm house to sleep in. Provide extra pillows, blankets, or soft items that you might have.

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; demonstrates progress in abilities to retell and dictate stories from books, and experiences; to act out stories in dramatic play; and to predict what will happen next in a story.

Math and Manipulatives

Use sequencing cards for the children to put in first, than, and last order.

Ask the children to help name animals that would be small enough to live inside a jack-o-lantern. Write their responses on a pumpkin shape.

Mathematics/Geometry & Spatial Sense; begins to determine whether or not two shapes are the same size and shape.

Outdoor Play

When the owl swooped down, Mousekin ran into the jack-o-lantern house. Play a tag game where the children can pretend to be mice and the teacher is the owl. The teacher chases the children who then run trying not to get caught. There can be a safe area (a play house, a tree) that can be the mouse house.

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; demonstrates progress in abilities to retell and dictate stories from books and experiences; to act out stories in dramatic play; and to predict what will happen next in a story. AND Physical Health & Development/Health Status & Practices; participates actively in games, outdoor play, and other forms of physical exercise that enhance physical fitness.

Transitions

Ask the children to help name other animals that might live in a forest, a zoo, a pond, or a pet store. Extend this by bringing in pictures of real animals from magazines and asking the children to name the animal and where it might live. Group the animals by habitat.

Science/Science Knowledge; expands knowledge of and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, materials, living things, and natural processes.

Mouse starts with the letter /M/. Can the children think of other words that begin with the letter /M/?

Literacy/Phonological Awareness; shows growing awareness of beginning and ending sounds of words.

Mouse-house are rhyming words. What other rhyming sets can the children name?

Literacy/Phonological Awareness; progresses in recognizing matching sounds and rhymes in familiar words, games, songs, stories, and poems.

Resources

Pumpkin sequence cards