Favorite Fall Book: "Pumpkin Circle"

We recently went on a field trip to a local pumpkin farm where they take the kids on a hay ride out to a pumpkin field to pick their own pumpkins. It was Rosa's first time getting to pick her own pumpkin and she loved it. All the children were told to pick only pumpkins that they could carry themselves. Jacob, of course, picked the biggest pumpkin he could get to the wagon but could not get it to the car on his own. Mom was left to carry a large and medium size pumpkin to the car. We had grown three pumpkin pie pumpkins in our own garden and a friend gave us two adorable mini pumpkins so now we have seven pumpkins in all.

All of these pumpkins has reminded me that I should share about our favorite fall pumpkin book called Pumpkin Circle: The Story of a Garden. This book tells how a pumpkin starts out as a small seed and grows over the summer into a large pumpkin which is carved into a jack-o-lantern in the fall. Then the jack-o-lantern is left in the garden to decay back into the earth leaving pumpkin seeds behind. The photos in this book are captivating and the rhyming verse teaches children the life cycle of a pumpkin in a very charming way.

We will be carving our large pumpkins and roasting the pumpkin seeds. The pumpkin pie pumpkins will be used for pies and muffins. We also plan to do a weighing activity with all seven pumpkins for math to see which is heaviest and which is lightest. Sometimes we paint faces on our pumpkins too. I would love to hear about other people's ideas for pumpkin activities!