Pumpkins

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By Judith Harries – teacher

To celebrate Autumn and Halloween, this article is stuffed with different ideas for creative activities using pumpkins. Try printing, painting, sticking, modelling, making music, singing and drama, and of course more traditional activities such as carving and cooking.

Pumpkin soup role play

Read Pumpkin soup by Helen Cooper (Doubleday Children’s Books) to the children. Look at the illustrations with them and ask the children to help you set up the role-play corner as the old white cabin with lots of different props for them to use. Provide masks for the children to wear to get into the characters of cat, squirrel and duck. Let children use musical skills on the tin whistle, bagpipes and singing. Place a large cooking pot in the kitchen and a big wooden spoon to stir the soup. Make up a cosy bed with a duvet for the animals to share. Set up a pumpkin patch in the role play garden. Don’t forget the wheelbarrow for Duck!

Pumpkin soup

Make some tasty hot pumpkin soup together to share for a Halloween snack.

Hollow out a pumpkin and let the children chop the flesh into small pieces. Show them how to use the knife safely.
Chop up two onions and some garlic and fry in butter.
Add the pumpkin together with two potatoes and fry gently in a covered pan.
Add a pint of chicken or vegetable stock and simmer for 15 minutes until the vegetables are soft.
Leave to cool and then blend until smooth.
Add some milk to make the soup creamy.
Taste and season and pour the soup back into the pumpkin shell.
Serve for snack with pumpkin bread!