What goes better with Fall than pumpkins? Set up an easy pumpkin investigation tray to explore the insides of a pumpkin—fun hands-on fall science for kindergarten and preschool. Check out more ways to learn with pumpkins including pumpkin books, worksheets, and science activities!

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Explore A Pumpkin Theme For Fall

Hands-on learning through play is perfect for this time of year! What better way than with a seasonal pumpkin theme?

The wagon ride to the pumpkin patch, have you ever been on one of those? I know we remember it fondly every time October rolls around. There’s so much to love about fall and pumpkin season! Check out this fun, hands-on activity you can do with a real pumpkin.

This pumpkin investigation tray for pumpkin science is a pretty awesome STEM activity for young kids! This tray has so much to see, smell, and feel. Roast the pumpkin seeds like we did to taste science too! Get kids thinking and exploring with the 5 senses.

Check out more pumpkin projects perfect for kindergarten and preschool-age kids. Of course, you can extend the learning with pumpkin science experiments and pumpkin art activities too!

Why Science Is Important For Preschoolers!

Kids are curious and always looking to explore, discover, check things out, and experiment to find out why things do what they do, move like they move, or change as they change!

Indoors or outdoors, science is amazing! Let’s introduce our younger kiddos to science at a time in their development when they have so much curiosity about the world around them!

Science surrounds us, inside and out. Preschoolers love looking at things out with magnifying glasses, creating chemical reactions with kitchen ingredients, and of course exploring stored energy! Check out 50 awesome preschool science projects to get started!

There lots of easy science concepts that you can introduce kids to very early on! You might not even think about science when your toddler or preschooler pushes a car down a ramp, plays in front of the mirror, plays with a magnetic wand, or bounces balls over and over again.

See where I am going with this list! What else can you add if you stop to think about it? Science starts early, and you can be a part of that with setting up science at home with everyday materials.

Or you can bring easy science to a group of kids! We find a ton of value in cheap science activities and experiments. Check out our helpful science resources below.

Helpful Science Resources To Get Your Started

Here are a few resources that will help you introduce science more effectively to your kiddos or students and feel confident yourself when presenting materials. You’ll find helpful free printables throughout.

Get your free pumpkin STEM printable!

Pumpkin Worksheets You Can Add On

Make sure to grab these free printable pumpkin worksheets too to pair with our pumpkin investigation.

Pumpkin Books

These pumpkin-themed books are sure to captivate kindergarteners and preschoolers’ imaginations and get them excited about pumpkins and the fall season! (I am an Amazon Affiliate.)

Pumpkin, Pumpkin by Jeanne Titherington
Follow a little boy’s journey as he plants a pumpkin seed, nurtures it as it grows, and watches it transform into a big, orange pumpkin. This book beautifully captures the life cycle of a pumpkin from seed to harvest.

“Too Many Pumpkins” by Linda White
In this fun and colorful story, Rebecca Estelle discovers a bumper crop of pumpkins in her garden after a pumpkin falls off a truck and smashes on her driveway. At first annoyed, she eventually finds creative ways to use her pumpkins with the help of her neighbors.

“The Biggest Pumpkin Ever” by Steven Kroll
Two adorable mice, Clayton and Desmond want to grow the biggest pumpkin ever. Without realizing it, they end up nurturing the same pumpkin vine. This book teaches cooperation and friendship sweetly and engagingly.

“It’s Pumpkin Time!” by Zoe Hall
Follow along as a brother and sister plant, care for, and eventually harvest pumpkins. This book not only covers the growth of pumpkins but also includes a simple pumpkin recipe at the end for some hands-on fun.

“Five Little Pumpkins” by Dan Yaccarino
This classic counting rhyme comes to life with colorful illustrations and playful rhymes. Follow the journey of five little pumpkins as they roll out of sight in this engaging and interactive book. Fun to pair with our 5 Little Pumpkins STEM Challenge.

Also, try these Pumpkin STEAM-inspired books with hands-on activities.

Try These Pumpkin Activities

Pumpkin Investigation Tray

You need only a few supplies to get started with a pumpkin investigation tray! We used a large carving pumpkin, but a small baking pumpkin will work too. Plus, you could cook the pumpkin and make a treat like a pumpkin bread. This is also science!

Supplies:

  • Pumpkin
  • Tray
  • Tweezers or Tongs and Plastic Knife {if appropriate}
  • Magnifying Glass
  • Small Bowls
  • Water

Instructions:

STEP 1. On a large tray add pieces of the insides of a pumpkin for kids to explore. Provide simple science tools to aid them.

Pumpkin Inveigation Science Observing with Magnifying GlassPin

STEP 2. Set out small bowls of water, and test tubes if using. Anything with water is fun for a science activity.

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Optional: We worked on knife cutting skills with a plastic knife. Perfect fine motor practice for this pumpkin investigation science activity.

Pumpkin fine motor skills and science activity cutting pumpkin with knifePin

Want a mess free way to explore the insides of a pumpkin? Make a Pumpkin Sensory Bag.

He used tongs to separate parts of the pumpkin and to place parts of the pumpkin in the water. What sinks and what floats? Can you estimate how many pumpkin seeds are in the pumpkin? Tongs like these also provide an opportunity to practice fine motor skills.

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Sit with your kids or use the pumpkin investigation tray for independent exploration. I love to ask my son simple open-ended questions. There are so many ways to encourage curiosity during the pumpkin investigation.

  • What do you see?
  • What does it feel like?
  • What happens when…?
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More Fun STEM Activities With Pumpkins

You don’t need to celebrate Halloween to enjoy pumpkin science activities. Try one or all of the ideas below!

Preschool Pumpkin Pack

Perfect for older toddlers, preschoolers, and whoever needs a simpler version of our pumpkin activities! Fourteen activities plus a book list complete with all the templates needed to get started. Get your preschool pumpkin pack here.

Printable Pumpkin STEM Pack

Perfect for K-2/3rd Grade and homeschool! Many activities can be modified for preschool and older kiddos as well.

Pumpkin is a festive and classic theme for fall and this pack is perfect for exploring pumpkins with a non-Halloween theme! Includes science, STEM, engineering, early math, and art projects.

100+ pages of “totally doable” projects the kids will have a blast trying! Read more here.

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