We decided to get another pumpkin for our Toddler 1 classroom, but wait to carve it until after Halloween to see if they children would show an interest, and of course they did! The Monday after Halloween some of the children were excited to let us know that they saw lots of pumpkins. Educator Trish cut the pumpkin and the children got to explore all of the insides. Some children dug right in, while others took a little bit of time to warm up to the idea. Brayden and Emmy were the first ones in, and Damian followed behind. Damian enjoyed taking handfuls of the insides while watching the slime slip through his fingers. Ezra had a hand full of the slime and also squeezed it until juice dripped out. Oliver was very curious and stuck his fingers in the pumpkin as well. As the children were touching the insides of the pumpkin we would ask them if it felt hot or cold, dry or wet.
The next day is when the real magic started! We sprinkled some baking soda on the inside of the pumpkin and poured some purple vinegar into small buckets, along with some eye droppers, and paint brushes. This gave the children to opportunity make some pumpkin magic! The children used their fine motor skills to squeeze some vinegar into the eye droppers, and then pour it into the pumpkin. Once the vinegar touched the pumpkin it started to bubble. Brayden and Parker both observed the bubbles foaming and were excited to point them out to us. Damian was fully engaged and started another sensory experience. He loved touching and scooping up the potion with his hands. Brayden then asked if we could add more “water” into the buckets, so Trish poured some more vinegar into the buckets for them to make more bubbles. The children had so much fun exploring the pumpkins after Halloween.
