Discovery's Pumpkin Patch!

This week the children discovered that a pumpkin patch was growing in the Discovery Room!

First, we introduced ourselves to the pumpkin life cycle (seed → SPROUT (our Word of the Week!) → vine → flower → green pumpkin → orange pumpkin → to earth again) and how a big pumpkin  grows from just one tiny, pumpkin seed!  A huge pumpkin can contain hundreds of seeds!  We discussed that a tiny sprout is a plant just beginning to grow - and in our example, from a pumpkin seed.  We all got to open and dig into a real pumpkin and feel the pulp and seeds!  (Some of the children were more eager than others to do that!)  We used some of our five senses to smell, look at, and touch the pumpkin.  We talked about how sometimes we carve our pumpkins into Jack-o-lanterns for Halloween!

 

The kids got to dig in...

 

  

  

  

 

 

We looked at all the parts of a pumpkin - the thick, orange skin; the stem (that the farmer cuts from the vine); the leaves, the whole vine, and the beautiful, curly tendrils; the ribs, the meat (the part of the fruit animals eat); the pulp; and the seeds.  

Our littlest explorers got to explore inside pretend pumpkins with pretend pulp and seeds!  They also got to look inside a real pumpkin and feel real seeds and pulp through a large, clear bag. :) 

 

   

We read a couple, great books showing us all about the life cycle of a pumpkin and how pumpkins grow.  We discussed the things a pumpkin needs to grow:  nutrient-rich soil (and how that's like us taking our vitamins and eating our vegetables), bright sunlight, water/rain, and fresh air.  I reminded the children to save a few pumpkin seeds when they carve their pumpkin this year for Halloween, and to plant those seeds next spring in early May!  It takes a pumpkin about four or five months to grow.  

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