Keeping Them Curious: Pumpkin Edition

(This pumpkin facts email was sent on October 2, 2023.)

🎃 I’m back with week two of my new “Keeping Them Curious” series, designed to give you and your kiddos a little boost as you start your week!

Each week, I will cover a theme by giving you some fun facts to share with your students and links to relevant resources from my site and across the web.

I’ll be kicking off this new month with a pumpkin theme! Whether you are a fan of pumpkin everything 🙋🏻‍♀️ or not, America’s favorite gourd is here to stay for the next 31 days (at least) so we might as well embrace it!

Keeping Them Curious is an email series for teachers who are passionate about actively engaging students in thematic learning. I’m posting the email content here for those who might like to have a place to revisit each theme. If you would like to receive this content by email, please let me know below!

Did You Know? Pumpkin Facts for Your Class

Here are some fascinating pumpkin facts you can inject into your lessons this month!

🟠 Pumpkins are native to North America, but the name probably comes from the ancient Greek word pepōn, meaning “large melon.” Pumpkins, and all other varieties of squash and gourd, are part of the same biological family as melons (the Cucurbitaceae family). (You might notice the similar-looking leaves and flowers!)

🟠 In 2016, a British horticulture company purchased a single pumpkin seed (taken from a record-breaking pumpkin) for £1,250, which was close to $2,000 American dollars at the time. You can read more about that seed (and see a picture) here.

🟠 Speaking of huge pumpkins, here’s a timelapse video of North America’s largest pumpkin from 2022 being carved into an eagle Jack-o’lantern, and here’s another video showing a man making a boat out of a pumpkin for the 11th annual West Coast Giant Pumpkin Regatta!

🟠 A pumpkin variety that’s popular in France, the Rouge Vif D’Etampes, is commonly called the Cinderella pumpkin because it reminds people of Cinderella’s carriage. Cinderella pumpkins are a red-orange color and are known to make delicious pies!

🟠 And, speaking of pies, the pumpkin pie that the pilgrims made back in the 1600s was much different from those we make today! Back then, the custom was to bake the custard filling inside the hollowed-out shell of a pumpkin. Take a look here at a recreation of the process!

Find a whole bunch more pumpkin videos to share with your class in this post!

And take a look at this post full of picture books to help build your library wishlist!

One more pumpkin post: this one includes some math freebies for kindergarten (or anyone who needs to work on comparing numbers 0-5)!

Looking to save time? I also have some ready-to-go pumpkin resources in my TPT store. If you click through to this bundle, you can see all four resources that are included: a thematic unit with a PowerPoint, a set of pumpkin math centers, a set of printable readers, and some informational digital activities!

I hope you find this list of pumpkin resources helpful! As always, please feel free to comment below or shoot me a message—I’d love to hear from you!