Looking for pumpkin activities for your 1st grade classroom? During the Fall in 1st grade, we love learning about all things PUMPKIN! We spend a week reading pumpkin books, singing pumpkin songs, and discovering so many new things about pumpkins! At the end of the week, we celebrate our learning with a Pumpkin Station Day! In this post, you’ll find tons of ideas for planning your own classroom pumpkin unit and some fun pumpkin activities for 1st grade! Plus grab a FREE Pumpkin Pie in a Cup recipe and activities!
If you want to find all of the Pumpkin Activities from this post, check out my Pumpkin Station Day resource here!
Find even more Halloween activities for 1st grade here!
Pumpkin Learning
Before our big Pumpkin Day celebration, we spend the week learning all about pumpkins! Throughout the week, I love weaving pumpkin-themed activities into our reading, writing, and science lessons. We read nonfiction books about the pumpkin life cycle, explore how pumpkins grow, and talk about their parts and uses.
In my Pumpkin Day Resource, I include non-fiction Pumpkin Slides and a matching mini book that students can read and color!
We also love listening to pumpkin songs to learn how pumpkins grow! Here are a few of our favorites!
Pumpkin Day in 1st Grade
Pumpkin Station Day is one of those classroom experiences that your students will remember all year long! It’s the perfect mix of learning, teamwork, and fall fun and the best way to wrap up your week of pumpkin lessons.
Students work in teams to complete 8 pumpkin station challenges including math, literacy, and science. I love setting up stations because they are low prep, keep students SO engaged, and take almost the whole day! Students have a blast and are focused the whole time! They don’t even realize they’re learning!
Pumpkin Activities: Save the Pumpkin Patch
I begin the day by displaying this slide on our smart board. I tell students we have a special message! Penny the Pumpkin needs our help. Our job is to work together in teams to complete 8 different challenge activities. By completing all the activities, we can save the Pumpkin Patch in time for the fall festival.
Pumpkin Stations Sticker Chart
I put students in teams of 2 or 3 and give each student a Pumpkin Station chart so that they can track which activities they have visited. As they complete a station activity, they can add a sticker to their chart! The kids absolutely LOVE these charts. They get so excited to add the stickers and I love that they can take them home and share with their families about all the pumpkin activities we completed.
Pumpkin Stations
Here’s a little peek at Pumpkin Day in action!
Pumpkin Activities Station 1: Pumpkin Life Cycle
Students work with their team to put the stages of the pumpkin life cycle in order. They can cut, glue, and color the life cycle pictures; then label the stages using the word bank.
Pumpkin Activities Station 2: Pumpkin Patch Match
For this activity, students will work together to match up the addition equation with its sum. This can be played like Memory.
- Turn the cards face down in rows. Students will take turns turning over two cards to see if it’s a match.
- If they find a match, they can keep the cards and each player will record the equation on their recording page.
- If it is not a match, turn the cards back over and continue playing.
- The player with the most matches is the winner.
Pumpkin Activities Station 3: Pumpkin ABC Order
Students put the pumpkin words in ABC order!
Pumpkin Activities Station 4: Parts of a Pumpkin
In this science station, label a diagram and color each part to show what they’ve learned. It’s a great way to build vocabulary!
Pumpkin Activities Station 5: Pumpkin Roll and Cover
Another fun pumpkin math game! Students roll 2 dice and can add or subtract the numbers. Then, cover the sum or difference. If both are already covered, lose a turn! The first player with every number covered is the winner! This game can also be incorporated into weekly math centers!
Pumpkin Activities Station 6: Pumpkin Facts
Students write 4 facts they have learned about pumpkins. I also like to set out pumpkin nonfiction books for students to explore at this station.
Pumpkin Activities Station 7: Pumpkin Investigation
This is a class favorite! Students work with their teams to observe, measure, and describe a pumpkin! Lots of fun, hands-on learning!
Pumpkin Activities Station 8: Pumpkin Word Search
My students LOVE word searches. They work together with their team to find all of the pumpkin words. If they don’t find all of the words before time is up, they can save their papers and I give them more time at the end of the day!
Pumpkin Pie in a Cup FREE Activities
After our stations, we celebrate with a fall treat! One of our favorite parts of Pumpkin Day is making Pumpkin Pie in a Cup! This simple, no-bake classroom recipe is always a hit and it’s the perfect way to combine following directions, sequencing, and writing into one fun activity.
Students layer graham cracker crumbs, pumpkin pudding, and whipped cream to make their own individual “pies,” then use transition words to write about each step. It’s quick to prep, easy to clean up, and a memory your students will talk about all year long.
You can grab the free recipe and activities here! 🙂
Pumpkin Writing
Along with our stations, I also like to do some pumpkin writing with my students. In my Pumpkin Theme Day activity pack, you can choose from a variety of writing activities such as:
- How Carve a Pumpkin
- All About Pumpkins
- The Pumpkin Patch
- The Best Pumpkin Treat
Pumpkin Crafts
Incorporate a fun pumpkin craft into your pumpkin day! These are perfect to hang up in the hallway to show learning!
Pumpkin Day is such a fun way to wrap up your pumpkin learning! It brings together reading, writing, math, and science through hands-on, fall-themed activities your students will love.
Find all the Pumpkin Activities here!
