It’s a fine motor pumpkin patch! And you know it. I quickly searched for a drawing idea to help this fine motor pumpkin patch come to life! It’s the quick win I needed to help improve my child’s pencil grip.
So bring on all the preschool activities for fall. It is time to change our routine with pumpkins, apples, and colored leaves!
RELATED: Here are 50 fall activities for preschoolers.
Strengthening little fingers now helps with writing later.
PRO TIP: Let’s not stress when our child moves from tongs to fingers. With my experience, I will tell you upfront that they will eventually ditch the kid tongs.
But fear not!
The big picture is your child is making small hand and finger movements. The squeezing, pinching, and grasping is prepping thier hands to write letters and improve drawings. These are all skills for dexterity and fine motor development.
If we fight this battle, we all lose that children MUST use the tongs. Everyone wins if we stay flexible and find simple ways to reinforce the pumpkin game.
Remember in our online course WONDER: Playing to Learn? You learned from the acronym W.O.N.D.E.R precisely what I am getting at. Staying flexible will still hit home on the main idea. It will most likely empower more than that!
What makes this pumpkin activity so great?
- Inspires creativity
- Encourages new conversation about fall
- Strengthens small hand muscles
- Introduces new vocabulary
- Engages young children to learn bigger concepts through play
This professional article from USA news is about the importance of learning through play.
RELATED: Love reading? Us too. Connect pumpkins with our favorite book for fall!
Seasonal Activity Cards
No more searching for ideas. Here’s exactly what you need to celebrate fall, Halloween, winter, and Noon Year’s Eve.
You will ADORE these 20 all-new ideas.
Additional ways to play
Extend the fine motor pumpkin patch activity through conversations!
When young children learn through play, organic discussion will come to fruition. With this preschool activity, keep these additional concepts in mind.
- Connect to real-life talking about a pumpkin patch you visited together
- Count the pumpkins in the jar
- Estimate how many may be in the jar
- Play again with two fall erasers – which has the most/least?
- Talk about how many pumpkins are still in the patch
RELATED: Pumpkins everywhere! Try Tissue Paper Pumpkin and Pumpkin Balance Relay Races!
Fine Motor Pumpkin Patch Supply List
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- Pumpkin erasers
- Jumbo Tweezers
- White paper roll
- Markers – I love this 40-pack!
We’ve played this preschool activity dozens of times using the different erasers in the pack and spider rings!
Fall is here, and a change of seasons is what keeps learning (and life) fresh!
Sketch a quick pumpkin patch and invite your child to hop in the game! Then be sure to check out these other pumpkin activities:
- Halloween Pumpkin Kerplunk
- Pumpkin Faces
- Pumpkin Balance Relay Races
- Sticky Pumpkin
- Tissue Paper Pumpkin Art
Allow your child to take the lead. If your child prefers to use their hands over the tongs, that’s okay too! Both help improve fine motor skills. Remember, think about the stage of your child over age. Often children will say no to something and then yes another day. Play this game a few times over the holiday season.
Oh boy! Do I have a list! 1. Halloween Frozen Water Play 2. Pumpkin Color by Number 3. Spider Dots 4. Halloween Sticker Shirts 5. Pumpkin Art
Most activities on Days with Grey are toddler and preschool activities. Ages 2.5-5.5 are great places to begin and allow the activity to varying over the years. For example, playing this at three may mean less use of the tongs than playing at five.