How a Pumpkin Grows

Ok, so I have to make a post of my "How A Pumpkin Grows" booklet.  It was featured in last weekends TPT newsletter and I couldn't have been more excited.  Of course it led to followers, sales, and reviews!  Tons of reviews!  Which is great.  If you are new to TPT, make sure you put your items in to be featured.  If they do not get picked, keep trying every week.  It pays off. 

So anyway.  When I make teacher materials, I make them for my future use, for when I can use them for older kids besides my own and the summer elementary kids I get.  (I always test them out on them.)  I usually adapt a "younger" version for my pre-k kids and toddlers.  So this past Monday we did a pumpkin sequence. 

I cut out numbers 1-7.  (Because I forgot to cut them over the weekend, the kids practiced with scissors cutting my scrap papers while I was cutting.  Kept them busy, and stopped them from asking, "what is that?" after e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. I cut.)     

I also had to cut my pictures out.  Because I own this clip art, I can use it any way I need to.  I could not add this activity to my store because I felt it was not smart to just put clip art on a page for people to cut out...someone might upload it as their own clip art.  You gotta be respectful of our artists!  Anyway, you can get this clip art for your self here.  I love Graphics From the Pond's clip art.

 So the kids glued their numbers, 1-7.  I had them point out their numbers.  The 3 year olds knew them all, I of course had to help my Delena.  (Yes, she is still in her jammies, it's her house, lol.) 

Kids love glue.

 As we pieced together our sequence I talked about each stage the pumpkin takes to grow.  Just like in my book, I used transition words like, first, next, then, and last.

The finished work. They are proudly hanging in my window. 

  For #7, I wanted to let the kids decorate their pumpkin, they saw the orange glitter that I added this month to the art box and of course all picked that.  Glue and glitter, kids will have a ball.

So the sweet part of this, we were doing a puzzle yesterday that had a pumpkin vine on it.  It happened to have a flower on the vine....sweet!  One of the 3 year olds starts telling me the sequence we talked about.  "First the vine, then the flower, then the green punkin, then the BIG orange punkin!"  I was super excited.  Even though they are toddlers, they are sponges at this age, you gotta teach at every moment!