Exploring the Five Senses with a Pumpkin

We carved a pumpkin last night…for the first time since Big Brother was born. As expected, he wanted nothing to do with sticking his hand inside the icky pumpkin.

(Just a forewarning–I have been playing around with the manual setting on my camera and these pictures are, well, yuck. I apologize.)

Because of the various textures, pumpkins make for a great opportunity to explore all five senses!

See:  What color is the pumpkin? Is it big or little? Round or lopsided?

Prince Charming was checking out the bottom of our pumpkin…which had apparently rotted. Oops. Note to self:  Next year don’t wait 2 full weeks from picking the pumpkin to carving it. :)

Hear: (I realize this is a bit far-fetched) Put your ear on the outside of the pumpkin. Can you hear my hands digging on the inside?

Touch: What does the outside of the pumpkin feel like? Is it smooth or bumpy? What about the inside…is it slimy???

Smell:  What does the pumpkin smell like? What about the smell of the pumpkin seeds? Do you like the smell? Pumpkin bread and pumpkin pie smell yummy while they’re baking too!

TasteHave you ever baked pumpkin seeds? I think they taste like popcorn!

Roast the pumpkin seeds by removing them from the pumpkin, washing them thoroughly in water, and straining. Toss with some sea salt and a little bit of olive oil and bake on a cookie sheet for 7-10 minutes at 400 degrees. They are very yummy and super delicious! Then ask your child, “What does the pumpkin seed taste like? Does it remind you of another food (nuts,etc)?”

Yummy! Big Brother really liked the pumpkin seeds too.

If you’re really daring, you could even puree the pumpkin and make pumpkin bread…but I would rather open up a can of Libby’s. :)

Literature Link
The Pumpkin Book
The Pumpkin Book by Gail Gibbons

4 Comments

  1. Actually, if you shake the pumpkin before you cut it you can actually hear the seeds inside banging around on the sides . . . might be a little easier to hear than your hands scraping the inside once it's cut. :-)

  2. overall, very solid folktale. I love following the plot of this awesome folktale. This has got to be my favorite folktale I have ever read.I am not really a folktale fan, but this folktale is really good.

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