Lessons from the Pumpkin Patch

Last week, we carved our pumpkins.   I tried to figure out a way to make it more interactive for the kids, since they can’t really do the cutting at this point.  I decided to download a bunch of pumpkin templates and let them make their own jack-o-lantern face by picking the eyes, nose and mouth they wanted to use.

This is what Wendy designed:

And here is Sam’ creation:

Before we carved our pumpkins, we decided to do a little math & science lesson with them.

First we guessed who had a bigger waist, a kid or a pumpkin.  Then we measured and recorded our observations.

We learned that Wendy had the smallest waist and pumpkin #1 was the largest diameter:

Pumpkin #1      41"
Pumpkin #2      38.5"
Pumpkin #3      38.5"
Sam           21.75"
Wendy          21.5"

Then we guessed which pumpkin weighed the most.

These were our findings:

Pumpkin #1     19lbs
Pumpkin #2     22lbs
Pumpkin #3     18lbs

We noted that even though Pumpkin #1 had the largest diameter, it was not the heaviest.

Then we got to scooping.   Wendy was not at all thrilled by the pumpkin guts and wanted nothing to do with them.

Sam was an eager participant in every part of our experiment and wanted to scoop and scrape.

Then we taped on our templates and got ready to poke the gourds.

Mommy & Daddy poked the pattern through, with assistance from Wendy & Sam.

Then we cut and finally, voila!  Our pumpkin creations!

We also weighed our pumpkins after carving and learned that even though the two we carved (P1 and P2) weighed a pound different initially, the both weighed the same amount after removing the guts and carving.  Here’s a summary of our findings:

       Waist      Weight    Post-Carving Weight
P1     41"        19lbs     14lbs  (Sam guessed 10lbs)
P2     38.5"      22lbs
P3     38.5"      18lbs     14lbs (Wendy guessed 15lbs)
Wendy    21.5"      ?43?
Sam     21.75"     ?41?

We had a lot of fun combining a little science with fun and we were all proud of our creations.

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The last pumpkin wasn’t carved at the same time.  I carved it about an hour before party time Halloween afternoon as an homage to dear ole dawg Logan (he’s still with us, just neglected)