Pumpkin Activities for Preschool

These pumpkin activities for preschool are sure to bring that cozy fall feel to your classroom.  As the leaves fall and the weather cools, your classroom will be filled with pumpkin fun all around. Learning should be engaging and fun. These carefully selected pumpkin learning activities certainly are both! 

You will find a delightful variety of activities here, from manipulating those gooey pumpkin guts to making an actual erupting pumpkincano — yes, you read that right, a pumpkincano! Some of the pumpkin ideas will even add an amazing pumpkin spice aroma to your room. 

I hope you enjoy these learning opportunities as much as I do, and that they help your preschoolers really engage in some fall FUN.  Each of these preschool pumpkin ideas would make a wonderful addition to your fall lesson plans or a preschool pumpkin theme! They are perfect for both October themes and November themes.

Pumpkin Activities for Preschool

Pumpkin Literacy Activities

Pumpkin Book Character Craft from Preschool Inspirations – Combining pumpkins and favorite book characters?! Yes, please!  This is genius!  This adorable activity is a fun way for kids to bring favorite book characters to life, with a pumpkin-sized serving of fall mixed in!  We are always seeking ways to motivate young readers to love books, and connecting to book characters is one such motivator.  When kids make real-life connections to books, they are motivated to engage in reading more.

Simple Pumpkin Writing Center from Preschool Inspirations – There are so many great pumpkin activities for preschool and some are so brilliantly simple and easy to set up, while also reaping huge benefits for kids! This pumpkin writing center is one such activity.  Your preschoolers can write, doodle, draw and decorate their pumpkins, all while refining their fine motor skills and having fun!  The best part? This center can be used over and over again because all it takes is wiping away the dry erase markings and the kids get to start from scratch! 

Pumpkin Name Puzzle from How Wee Learn – Since we want a variety of ways for preschoolers to practice their name throughout the year, these pumpkin name puzzles are a perfect addition to your preschool pumpkin theme!  Low prep, excellent skill practice, and perfect for all your little pumpkins, your students will delight in having their very own name puzzle, with a pumpkin twist!  Young kids typically LOVE any activity associated with their name and this one adds fine motor cutting practice and puzzle problem-solving right into the mix!  

Pumpkin-Themed Circle Time Props from Teaching 2- and 3-year-olds – What better way to make books, songs and fingerplays come alive than with kid-sized props?  These FREE pumpkin printables are just the right size to simply glue onto a craft stick and you’ll have a class set in no time!  Laminate to make them last from year to year.  Once laminated, you could also put some in your writing center with some dry erase markers!

Pumpkin Arts and Crafts

Easy Pumpkin Craft from Preschool Inspirations – Are you looking for a classic, low-prep Jack-o-Lantern craft that will proudly be displayed at home?  Look no further!  If you have plenty of small paper plates on hand, your kids can make several of these and try out a variety of spooky, silly, and fun faces.  Because of their small size and the ability for kids to make more than one, these would be perfect props for acting out pumpkin stories, rhymes and chants!

Puffy Paint Pumpkins from Preschool Inspirations – Have you ever made home-made puffy paint with your kids?  This simple recipe is easy, fun and smells simply delightful!  Your preschoolers will take pride in being a part of all aspects of this activity, as they get to start out by helping make the puffy paint!  As an added bonus, your classroom will smell Autumn-mazing when you add all the completed pumpkins to your class pumpkin patch!

Pumpkin Suncatchers from Preschool Inspirations – My favorite preschool pumpkin activities are those that end up as cherished seasonal decorations for years to come.  These beautiful pumpkin suncatchers will stand the test of time because they don’t fade!  There is even a “secret ingredient” so that they don’t fade!

Fall Art Lego Pumpkins from Every Little Adventure – Many kids love painting, pumpkins, and legos….so what happens when you combine these three things into one fun art activity?  All sorts of beautiful process art creations, that’s what! Painting with legos is genius!  It’s a wonderful fine-motor activity that allows each child to manipulate the lego and paint however they choose.  The end result will be a splendid variety of pumpkins that your preschoolers will absolutely take pride in! 

Pumpkin Science Experiments and STEM Explorations

Exploding Pumpkin Volcano from Little Bins for Little Hands – Pumpkin-cano???  I challenge you to take a peek at this amazing pumpkin volcano experiment and NOT grin from ear to ear!  The first time I saw it, I couldn’t stop smiling, because I knew my kids would LOVE it so much!!  This pumpkin-twist on the age-old vinegar and baking soda volcano is a science experiment that is sure to please ALL involved!!  And, as an added bonus, your preschoolers can also enjoy help scoop out the pumpkin guts and get lots of opportunities for sensory play with whatever is removed. 

Pumpkin STEM Investigations from Life Over C’s – Turn your classroom into a STEM lab, with just a few materials including small pumpkins and these FREE pumpkin investigation printables.  Your students will get to be scientists who explore their pumpkins inside and out, and record their observations.  STEM learning typically involves lots of open-ended inquiry which is what the preschool brain is so magically wired to do!  The sky is the limit with what your young scientists just might discover!

Pumpkin Sensory Activities

Fluffy Pumpkin Spice Slime from Teaching Mama – The only challenge with this slimy pumpkin activity is that you and your preschoolers just might have to resist the temptation to eat it once you smell its amazing pumpkin pie aroma!  Otherwise, this fluffy slime takes the cake (or the pie?) in the sensory department!  This can provide hours of exploration and fun.  Kids that may have some tactile sensitivity might be more comfortable manipulating their slime in a plastic bag. This slime will also last 2-3 days if stored in a sealed bag.

Pumpkin Sensory Squish Bag from Fantastic Fun and Learning – When the title of something includes “pumpkin guts,” it is bound to get your preschoolers’ attention!  And, this Pumpkin guts sensory squish bag is no exception.  Students that are comfortable touching the “guts” can help pull them out of the pumpkin and place them in the bag.  Once the bag is full, it is a great sensorial exploration activity for all the kiddos!  Writing a letter ‘P’ for pumpkin on the bag before filling it will incorporate letter practice as they can trace it with their fingers right over all the squish!

Pumpkin Math Activities

Geoboard Pumpkins from Fun-A-Day – Engaging pumpkin geoboards are a must-have as part of your preschool pumpkin theme!  These geoboard gourds help develop a multitude of skills across your curriculum, including hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, spatial and shape awareness, symmetry, and even development of children’s pincer grips as a preparation for writing!  Your preschoolers will love this activity while reaping so many developmental benefits! 

Pumpkin Count and Match Mats from Fun Learning for Kids – It’s so important for preschoolers to have a variety of counting and number recognition experiences. When planning pumpkin activities for preschool, it’s easy to incorporate counting and number recognition. Your class or kids can count pumpkins, count seeds, label groups of seeds with number cards, and also have independent center activities such as these Pumpkin Count and Match mats.  Just slide them in a sheet protector, grab some number cards or tiles, and your center is ready to go!

Printable Pumpkin Puzzles from From ABC’s to ACT’s – Puzzles are a great way to practice critical thinking skills and hand-eye coordination.  These simple pumpkin puzzles make a great math center as part of your preschool pumpkin theme!  Kids develop early math and problem-solving skills as they work to match the appropriate pieces together.  They may also discover some silly Jack-O-Lantern faces if they play around with mismatched pieces!  This can be a great catalyst for story-telling and will probably end with lots of giggles!  

Pumpkin Pie Number Sense from 123 Homeschool 4 Me – This is a wonderfully pie-filled number sense activity!  It clearly shows the fundamental concept behind number sense, which is the idea that there are many ways to make a number.  It’s also absolutely adorable, inviting and fun!  Included in this free download are pies that represent numbers 1-10!  It’s easy to differentiate for children at a variety of levels…it may be appropriate for some children to put just one or two pies together at one time, while some children might be ready to puzzle together five or more pies!

Pumpkin Shape Mats from Fun-A-Day – I love these pumpkin shape mat printables which are versatile AND absolutely adorable!  They are a great addition to all your pumpkin activities for preschool because there are so many cross-curricular applications.  Other than the obvious shape identification, kids can use manipulatives to outline or fill their shapes, you can use these as sorting mats after a fun class shape hunt, or these can even be used as playdoh mats!  I definitely recommend laminating them or sliding them into a dry erase pocket. 

Printable Pumpkin Lacing Activity from I Heart Crafty Things – Pumpkins and numbers and lacing, oh my!!  What’s not to love in this multi-faceted fun learning activity??  Lacing promotes so many skills including fine motor, improving hand-eye coordination, building the important pincer grip, improving visual perception and more!  This FREE printable comes with two variations for differentiation, one with the numbers 1-20 and one that is blank.  For added engagement and skill practice, your kiddos can cut out the pumpkins and even help punch the holes, with your guidance!  Happy lacing!

Fall Preschool Lesson Plans

For ready-made lesson plans, check out the fall lesson plans in our store and these pumpkin lesson plans from our friends at Preschool Teacher 101! Each set of done-for-you lesson plans is full of hands-on learning activities, printables, book and song suggestions, and tons more resources!