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Oodles of Pumpkins

Why are carved pumpkins associated with Halloween? Students will explore the origin of jack-o'-lanterns and learn some interesting facts about pumpkins, then create a pumpkin drawing.

Lesson Plan

Supplies Needed

Gather all the supplies needed to bring your craft ideas to life! From paints and markers to glue and scissors, our crafts section has everything to spark creativity and make every project truly special.

  • Paper

Steps

  • Step 1

    Ask students what comes to mind when they think of autumn. They may come up with cooler temperatures, leaves changing color, and pumpkins. Explain that pumpkins are in the squash family and that squash is actually botanically a fruit. It develops from a flower that blooms on a plant and it has seeds. (From a culinary, i.e. cooking, standpoint, some vegetables can be classified as a vegetable based on their savory taste. Examples include pumpkins and other squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, and others.)

  • Step 2

    Discuss how carved pumpkins, also known as jack-o'-lanterns, came to be associated with Halloween. Halloween is based on "Samhain," an ancient Celtic holiday that honored people who had died in the past year. Samhain was observed on November 1, and the word "Samhain" is also the Gaelic name for November. To ward off evil spirits people would put a candle in carved turnips, beets, and other fruits/vegetables and place them outside their houses. This has since become a fun decoration associated with secular celebrations of Halloween.

  • Step 3

    Have students draw a scene that includes pumpkins. It might be a general autumn scene of a pumpkin patch, if that feels more appropriate for your community than a Halloween scene. If their pumpkins have facial expressions, start with this part of the scene first. Children would outline the pumpkins and use basic shapes to indicate where the eyes, nose, and mouth would be left blank. Then they can color in the remaining surface of each pumpkin. After that they would add the background scene. For the sky area, have them map out where ghost figures (if they include them) would also be left blank.

  • Step 4

    Have students present their pumpkin scenes and talk about the different ways this botanical fruit/culinary vegetable can be enjoyed!

Standards

LA: Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.

VA: Identify specific works of art as belonging to particular cultures, times, and places.

LA: Use information gained from illustrations (e.g., maps, photographs) and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text.

LA: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.

LA: Participate in shared research and writing projects.

SS: Describe ways in which language, stories, folktales, music, and artistic creations serve as expressions of culture and influence behavior of people living in a particular culture.

SS: Describe how people create places that reflect ideas, personality, culture, and wants and needs as they design homes, playgrounds, classrooms, and the like.

VA: Use different media, techniques, and processes to communicate ideas, experiences, and stories.

VA: Use visual structures of art to communicate ideas.

VA: Select and use subject matter, symbols, and ideas to communicate meaning.

Adaptations

Plant pumpkin seeds in class and watch them grow. This can be done by filling a cup or flower pot with potting soil, pressing several pumpkin seeds about half an inch down, then covering them with more soil. Lightly water the seeds every few days (and point out to children why they should not overwater). When the seeds sprout they can each be transplanted to a separate pot. You can also plant them in a hollowed-out pumpkin; just make sure to place some drainage holes in the bottom so that it won't get moldy.

Make a collage using pumpkin seeds that have soaked in a container of watercolors. After the pumpkin seeds have picked up the desired colors, they can be air dried. Then the dry seeds can be glued onto heavy paper as artful collages.