Have your children make a hanging pumpkin garden for Halloween and Thanksgiving out of paper and crayons.
Halloween and Thanksgiving are filled with scenes of plump, orange pumpkins. The hanging paper pumpkin patch brings the autumn fun indoors and will brighten up any home or classroom.
Grade Level 3-4
Making the pumpkins involves pattern tracing, using scissors, coloring, and stapling.
Materials Needed
- Pumpkin pattern – the pattern should be at least 4 inches wide and 6 inches tall
- White printer paper or construction paper
- Scissors
- Crayons
- Stapler - small staplers work best for small hands
- Strips of newspaper for stuffing the pumpkin
- String or yarn for hanging up the pumpkin patch
Directions
- Have the students use a pumpkin pattern and trace it onto one sheet of white paper.
- Hold two sheets of white paper together and cut out the pumpkin shape. Keep both halves of paper together.
- Use an orange crayon to make a small dot on the front and back of the pumpkin before separating the paper. This way, the student does not make the mistake of coloring the inside half of the pumpkin.
- Color the pumpkin's stem on both halves with a green or brown crayon.
- Color the rest of the pumpkin on both halves with a bright orange crayon. Use a dark orange or green crayon to make vertical lines in the pumpkin to show its roundness.
- Staple the two pumpkin halves together, half way around. In the opening, stuff the pumpkin with strips of crumpled newspaper.
- Finish stapling the pumpkin closed.
- Use string or yarn to hang the pumpkin up in the classroom or in the home.
Alternative Methods and Ideas
- Crayons can be replaced with markers or tempera paint.
- Sew the edges together with yarn instead of stapling.
- Children can make a mobile out of the pumpkins.
- Make Jack-o'-lanterns instead of natural pumpkins.
- Children at home can be taught how to make a hanging felt pumpkin. To do this, cut the basic pumpkin shape, including the stem, out of two pieces of orange felt. Cut two extra stems from brown or green felt and glue them onto the orange stem. Have children sew up the pumpkin edges with a needle and embroidery thread, leaving an opening. Fill the felt pumpkin with filler and sew closed. Use leftover embroidery thread to hang the pumpkin.
Lesson Connections
Health and Diet: Discuss different ways people eat pumpkins, such as pumpkin pie. Why are pumpkins good for you to eat?
Language Arts: Have children read a Halloween or Thanksgiving story or poem.
Math: Use pumpkin seeds to group numbers for multiplication and division.
Science: Is a pumpkin a fruit or a vegetable?
Social Studies: Explore the history of Jack-o’-lanterns during the Halloween season.
