Everything Pumpkin

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With the arrival of Autumn, many yearn for pumpkin spice, visiting pumpkin patches, pumpkin pie, pumpkin decor, and everything else pumpkin. But why the pumpkin? After all, wouldn’t life be just as "gourd" if this season celebrated the cucumber or the cantaloupe? Perhaps not.

Pumpkins can be grown all over the world except for Antarctica. So while they may be native to the Southern United States and Central America, you can find them in gardens all over—yet Morton, Illinois is considered the “pumpkin capital” of the world because it is home to the Libby's corporation, whose canned pumpkin puree has become a part of the preparation for many American families’ Thanksgiving meals. With pumpkins being a winter squash, it makes sense that they are popular during the autumn season.

Pumpkins are interesting in that most parts of the plant are edible such as the shell, the seeds, the leaves, and even the flowers. Green ones can be eaten like summer squash while ones that are ripe can be used not only for pies but also soups. How do you like to enjoy pumpkins? It is amazing that they can be baked, roasted, steamed, or boiled or included in part of another dish. Personally, I enjoy pumpkin seeds. They are a lovely treat.

The pumpkin is also part of American folklore as it figures in the story of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving. If you or your homeschooled children wish to learn more about American folklore, you might want to take a look at the American Folklore course at SchoolhouseTeachers.com. While learning about the Northeast, your middle school or high school children will learn more about legends and spooky folktales in lessons six through eight. In The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, the headless horseman is said to have a pumpkin atop his shoulders instead of his head. Whether Irving pulled this idea from American tales or European folklore, it is interesting to note that the pumpkin plays a role in this American classic.

For many, pumpkins make them think of jack o'lanterns and decorating for Halloween. The history of jack o'lanterns goes back to Ireland, where people would carve turnips and potatoes to scare away evil spirits. Today, people carve a variety of designs into pumpkins to decorate for the season including individuals from favorite movies. So, not everything relating to jack o'lanterns today is about the scare.

Do pumpkins play a role in your celebration of Autumn? Do you enjoy a hot cup of tea or coffee flavored with pumpkin spice?

Celebrating the Season

We are winding down the summer season. Even though summer does not end until mid-September once Labor Day arrives most people are already talking about fall, back to school, and pumpkin spice. And while our youngest two children homeschool year-round (with lots of breaks during the summer), our eldest will be entering his final season as a homeschool student the first week of September when he starts his senior year of high school. The season goes by SO quickly.

Closing Out the Summer 

Before all the changes were brought about by the current world situation, the end of the summer would mean some final field trips – before summer hours ended. It would also signify the promise of getting excited to visit the shore in the Fall because I love going to the beach when the weather is just a tad cooler and when the boardwalks are less crowded. But we won't be doing any of these things for a while, sadly.

The end of Summer also means that I will need to go through the younger children's clothing to prepare for the colder weather. What clothes still fit? What clothes will our younger son hand down to his younger sister? Which ones will she refuse to wear because they are boy clothes?  (She refuses to wear Minecraft shirts because they are boy shirts but would play Minecraft all day long if we would let her.) And don't forget to go through the shoes! Boots will need to be tried on. New slippers might need to be purchased for the Fall and Winter.

It will also become time to put the kids' outdoor toy bin on the porch for safekeeping over the winter months. I am sad that we really didn't get to spend too much time outdoors this summer but – between the heat and the mosquitoes – it was sometimes unbearable. Maybe once the cooler weather arrives, we will be able to enjoy our backyard again.

Preparing For the Fall 

I used to change out decorations around the house – putting up pumpkins, leaves, and more to celebrate the arrival of Fall. Things have changed since having more children and homeschooling them. There were also changes made to my desire to decorate because of my anxiety and depression. And right now we don't really have space to make things fancy or decorated.

I hope that we will be able to plan our annual trip to a local farm to get pumpkins but alas I think that will be canceled like so many other events. It saddens me because it was one of my favorite ways to celebrate the season. Between the pumpkin picking and the games they had on the "Field of Fun," it was a great way to spend the day as a family. And we just discovered a new place where we can pick apples, too.

Preschool: Fine Motor Skills

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There are many ways to help young children develop fine motor skills.  Some of the best ways are for them to practice moving objects of various sizes from one container to another.  Here are a few activities we have done together. 

Beans 

We have a variety of different sized dry beans for the kids to use for crafts and activities.  One day I took a couple of trays outside, some different size containers, and the beans for the kids to explore. They spent the majority of the time moving them from one place to the next.  

Materials 

• dried beans
• trays 
• funnel 
• containers 
• broom 

Seasons Bottles 

I had my toddlers help create our Seasons Bottles by putting appropriate items into each of the four bottles.  My daughter really loved putting the items in the bottles but she couldn't figure out why she was unable to get them back out. 

Materials 

• clean, plastic bottles
• pom-poms
• snowflake sequins
• fake leaves 
• shells
• ribbon
• raffia 

Our Other Activities 

Icicle Ornaments 

A is for Alligator 

Additional Resources 

Mess for Less' Q-Tips and Straws Activity 

The OT Toolbox's Teach Kids How to Button the Fun Way 

Teach Me Mommy's Threading Shapes 

The Imagination Tree's Cardboard Beads 

I linked up with the following blog(s):

Learning about the Four Seasons and Building Fine Motor Skills

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Studying the four seasons, especially if you live in an area where the temperature and seasons do not drastically change may not always be easy. To help our children understand and learn about the four seasons, we created different Seasons Bottles together.

Materials

• clean, clear plastic bottles
• pom-poms
• shells (The ones I used were from a collection I had for years. I did not purchase any for this project.)
• sand
• raffia
• ribbon
• snowflake sequins
• artificial leaves
• artificial flowers 
• small Christmas ornaments 
• glue (hot glue gun) 

While completing the project, there are many ways you can expand this beyond just talking about the four seasons. For example:

• You could count out the number of items you are using in each Seasons Bottle
• Compare and contrast the shapes and sizes of items used
• Use the same items for each but in different colors or designs (for example red & green pom-poms for the winter one with yellow ones for the summer one) 
• Listen to the sounds the items make in the bottle as you gently shake it 
• Use items that require cutting and have your child practice using scissors 
• Use different stickers to decorate the outside of the bottles

Winter

My son helped put the items in for winter including snowflake ribbon and red and green pom-poms.

Autumn

My daughter helped with the Autumn bottle by putting in orange raffia, leaf ribbon, and orange and brown pom-poms.

Spring 

This one is still waiting to be completed as we gather materials for it. What items would you include? 

Summer 

We placed small sea shells in this bottle and when we get sand from our next trip the shore, we will put some of that in the bottle as well. 

If your children are older, you can have them collect the various items from your home, the store, and neighborhood for your seasons bottles. 

After they are completed, I would recommend gluing the lids onto the bottles.  

Resources 

Mama. Papa, Bubba. Season Sensory Bottles. 

Sun Hats and Wellie Boots Discovery Bottles: Four Seasons 

Looking for more activities? 

Creating activities for younger children can be fun and exciting but all your projects do not need to look like the fancy ones you may find on Pinterest. As long as you and your children are having fun and learning, then you are creating happy memories. 

I created weather-themed bottles that are similar to these for the seasons as well as projects with felt and ribbons to help them build their fine motor skills.  And don't forget there are many more ways in which children build their fine motor skills from sorting buttons or beads to playing with clay. Learning can take place every day!