Nothing says Autumn in the US like bright orange pumpkins and tall corn stalks! We love our pumpkins around here – oops, we still need to get our pumpkins for this year! While October is full of books about jack-o-lanterns and Halloween stories, my list does not include anything spooky, or related to the holiday, just in case that’s not your style. After all, there is so much interesting information about pumpkins and corn to keep us busy for this nature study.

You may find a free printable of my list of 23 books on – again for FREE. 🙂

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When I lived in Japan, I learned that they also have a love for pumpkins, although they typically are picked while fully green. And they eat just about all of the pumpkin! If you’re like me, you’ve only really eaten pumpkin if it is put into a pie or pureed down into a soup base. But steamed pumpkin is a favorite of mine after enjoying it in Japan during the Autumn season (I also fell in love with eating foods when they are “in season” there. We are so very spoiled here in the US with readily available food all year long).

There are so many fun activities you can do with pumpkins and incorporate into your regular lessons. A quick science lesson would be to dissect the pumpkin into its parts, investigating the insides, dissecting the seeds, and then, of course, baking the seeds for a healthy snack ( so long as you go easy on the sugar). A great math lesson is to estimate how many seeds might be inside the pumpkin and then cut it open to count them out. Try counting them by 1s, or by 2s, 5s – they make great skip-counting manipulatives! (The book, How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin? gives a great description of this activity, and is in this book list) The same can be done with ears of corn, as you count out one row, try multiplying all the rows by that number to estimate how many kernals might be there. Did you know that there is a single strand of silk per kernal?? Amazing!

Social studies activities would be to learn about the cultural significance of pumpkins or squash across the planet. Especially if you’re in the US, learn about the Indigenous tradition of the Three Sisters – corn, beans, and pumpkins. A great book for that is included on the list called, Keepunumuk. In fact, I would recommend that book for the home library as it has beautiful artwork and a wonderful message, good for the whole year.

Finding international recipes for both pumpkins or corn, and then trying to replicate one or more of them is an excellent cultural awareness activity. Try adding a new favorite to your Thanksgiving celebrations to share with your extended family!

For an art project, corn stalk dolls is a fun activity! Save the corn husks, drying them out completely before a quick soak (for flexibility) to twist them into shape. Find easy instructions here! You will need several corn husks, twine, scissors, paper towels and then any fabric, felt, or buttons to dress and decorate your dolls, and glue to fix the clothing in place.

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