Pumpkins

Search your library for books about pumpkins.  I log onto the pines catalog at home and place a hold on my books and videos to pick up at the desk.  It makes going to the library and finding what you need that much easier. 
Visit a pumpkin patch to pick your own pumpkins, walk the fields and teach your little one how pumpkins grow.  Cut your own pie pumpkins to take home for a yummy (and sticky, messy, ooey, gooey) science experiment!

Sing "Five Little Pumpkins" which is also illustrated in the book titled the same. 
Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate

The first one said "Oh my, it's getting late!"
The second one said, "There are witches in the air!" (can also insert bats, owls for witches)
The third one said, "...but we don't care!"
The fourth one said, "Let's run and run and run!"
The fifth one said, "We're having so much fun!"
Then whoosh went the wind! (wave arms in air)
And out went the light (clap hands together on "out")
And the five little pumpkins rolled (roll your fists over each other) out of sight (hide hands behind back).

Science Experiment:

Let your preschooler hold a pie pumpkin and predict what might be inside the pumpkin.  Let her draw a picture on the "What's inside a pumpkin?" worksheet of what she predicts. 
Then cut the pie pumpkin while she watches and see if her prediction was true or false. (Mae predicted that a purple sucker was going to be inside the pumpkin)  Let your child draw the stringy pulp with an orange crayon, pencil or marker.  Or let him glue on orange yarn with school glue.  Then glue down pumkin seeds.  Ask your child questions such as, "How does the pulp feel?"  "What can we do with the seeds?"  "
Use words such as slimy, cold, gooey, slippery,etc...
Explain how pumpkins grow: on a vine, from seeds planted in the dirt, on the ground, etc...
What Sins Idea Pumpkin

Cook the pumkin:  Scoop all the pulp and seeds from the pumpkin and wrap the rest of the pumkin with aluminum foil and place on a foil-lined jelly roll pan. Place in a 350 preheated oven and bake for about 45 minutes or until soft on the inside. Allow to cool and remove the "meat" of the pumpkin from the shell. Mash with a potato masher and use in a recipe that requires pumpkin (substitue for can pumpkin). Allow your child to be as involved in this process as possible for his/her age and abilities. Be sure to stretch his or her abilities by letting him or her try something new :-) It WILL be messy!!

Roast the seeds and toss in salads or in pastas for yourself. I wouldn't reccommend serving pumpkin seeds to children under age 4 or 5.
Allowing your children to help in the kitchen teaches them science and math skills, how to follow directions and will promote healthier eating habits.
Read "Apples and Pumpkins" by Anne Rockwell.  Describe the difference between the way pumpkins grow (down low on a vine) and the way apples grow (up high in a tree).


Extra Activity:

Pumpkin Patterns Sheet
Pumpkin Patterns
 

Spiders and Shapes

A rainy day in October, which we've had a lot of lately, is a great time to focus on the "Itsy, Bitsy Spider" activities.  Start by singing the song together with your preschooler.  Then, use the reproducible below to make a puppet to enjoy while you sing the song.  Toddlers will love this activity too!
Spider Puppet
I've also included a few other spider activity sheets from The Mailbox that are a lot of fun.
Spider Squarest
Spider Spout

More Spider Activities:

Spider Prints

Cut eight slits in one end of a paper-towel roll and spread the strips out flat.  Dip the cut end of the paper-towel roll into a shallow dish of black or brown tempera paint and then use it to make spider prints on construction paper.

Spider Web
If you have a group (3-4 players) of older preschoolers you can play the spider web game.  Simply form your group in a circle and toss a ball of yarn or string to different players to create a unique spider web.  You may choose to allow children to act as the spider one at a time on the web.  It's fun and promotes motor skill development trying to weave through the stringy web!  You will just need an extra hand or two to hold up the web as one player crawls through.  Have fun!

Spider Spy
In the fall, you'll notice more spiders spinning around so go on a walk in the yard to notice all the webs and different spiders.  Just don't get too close, they do bite!  Use words like creepy, crawly, wiggly, and sticky to describe the spider and its web.  Describe how the spider spins his web to catch bugs to eat.  The spiders help us to catch bugs that "bug" us.  "Thank you, spiders!"

Additional Resources:

You can join The Mailbox magazines website to receive more downloadables for free.  You won't get all the benefits of the full magazine subscription, but they have quite a few activities for each month including a bonus unit.  I love, love, love The Mailbox magazine!  The website is:  http://www.theeducationcenter.com/tec/af/home.do