Autumn

Pumpkin Light ~ Drilling for fun!

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We are going to drill a pumpkin! There is much inspiration on Pinterest for carving and decorating pumpkins this season. From yarn, to paint, hammer and nails, and drills you can find just about any tool or material. However, drilling a pumpkin is absolutely fun and then best.

Supervision: You might not be comfortable having your child handle a drill and that is fine. You know your child’s capabilities.

If you choose to do this activity with your child, supervision, teaching, and guidance is an absolute must!!!

To drill a pumpkin pumpkin here is what you need:

  • A pumpkin (This one came from Ritters Fruits and Vegetables.)
  • Drill and bit
  • Knife for carving the top
  • Candle or battery powered light of your choice to put inside the pumpkin

First, cut out the top and back of the pumpkin. The cut that goes down the back provides easy access to clean and light the pumpkin.

Thoroughly clean out the seeds and ‘guts’ of the pumpkin. This is so sensory! Get in there and get messy! (You should probably check out our post called Pumpkin Guts!)

Instruct your child on how to use the drill safely, then supervise their work at all times.

Carefully drill away!

We chose a random pattern.

This was so fun. When you were a kid do you remember opening a gift that your parents loved to play with?  You will be the one who wants to use the drill.

Once drilling is complete, clean up your pumpkin.  Wipe it down inside and out. I used a straw to poke through holes that were slightly clogged. A tip I learned from Pinterest is to smear the inside with vaseline to help prevent molding. The drill was easy to clean by rinsing with water and drying.

Add the lighting of your choice. This pumpkin has a medium sized pillar candle. Another option is too use battery powered candles.

 

Update – Here is a video showing this year’s pumpkin. 🙂

Have fun drilling pumpkins together!

A Fall Leaf Garland

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Our leaves are just now seriously changing colors and they are beautiful!
A fall garland of leaf suncatchers was inspired by a friend who reminded me of how much fun it is to melt crayons between pieces of wax paper.

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Happy Halloween

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This old Halloween photo of my mother and girls will always be one of my favorites. The girls were trick-or-treating in Grandma’s neighborhood.

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Jack-O-Lantern Cups

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These little dessert cups are super simple and kid friendly to make. We made them to serve nearly 125 people at our Turkey Fest last year. They were a big hit. I’ve posted this recipe before, so if it seems familiar it is!…

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An Apple Extravaganza!

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Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the “Little House” books, referred to southwest Missouri as “the land of the big red apple”. While we no longer live in that beautiful area of the state,  we have always enjoyed the fall expedition to our local apple orchard, complete with wagon ride and cider. We are talking about apple cider so good it was just like drinking an apple! Yummy!

These activities will help you extract every ounce of juicy learning from your apples.

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Yummy Pumpkin Pie

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Cooking is a great way to connect with your child. It is also an opportunity to teach teamwork, cooperation, and basic concepts. Here is a super easy pumpkin pie recipe that you and your preschooler can whip up together.

No Bake Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:

1 large can pumpkin pie mix (found by the canned pumpkin)

1 small instant vanilla pudding

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 tub of cool whip

2 baked and cooled pie crusts or graham cracker crusts

Mix together the pumpkin pie mix, pudding, and sweetened condensed milk. Fold in the cool whip. Pour into the pie crusts. Chill until set; then serve.

Variation ~ Pumpkin Cups ~ Place 8 graham crackers into a plastic bag and crush. Pour a couple of tablespoons of crumbs into dessert cups. Pour pie filling into cups, chill, and serve.

How can you make this a learning activity for your preschooler?

Language – Talk about what you are doing. You are pouring, opening, stirring, crushing…etc. As your child helps ask her questions about what she is doing. For example: What color is the pumpkin? What color is the cool whip? What happened when you mixed them together? How did it change after being in the fridge? What do you think we should do next? Talk about the utensils you use.

Literacy – Read the recipe to your child so they see an example of how we read in everyday life. Have your child ‘write’ a recipe for their favorite food. Or they can dictate the recipe to you, and you write it for them.  It is so fun to see their perspective!

Fine Motor – Have them open the pudding and pour it into the bowl, let them scoop out cool whip, and let them stir the ingredients together.

Yes. This is a pathetic picture of a sad little piece of pie. But that is all that was left! It was devoured before I had a chance to take a picture.