Pumpkin Carving with Mr. Henrikson and Mrs. London

Today we had a very special surprise - Mr. Henrikson came to school and carved a pumpkin!  He is an expert pumpkin carver because he carved countless pumpkins for our three children.  I invited Mrs. London's kindergarten class to join us.

This lesson connected to the science standard in kindergarten - identifying the five senses.  Kindergarteners were able to experience first hand what a pumpkin smelled like, felt like, looked like, and they listened to the hollow sound of the pumpkin after the seeds and pulp were removed.  We decided not to eat the raw pumpkin!

For first graders in Mrs. Henrikson's class,  this activity was used as a review of the five senses.  In addition,  my class has been learning about the unique external features of plants and animals (which is aligned to the science standards that are coming) and so we used this experience to talk about what is unique about pumpkins.

This is Mr. Henrikson all set up and ready to go.  He brought a blue tarp so he could keep everything neat and some pumpkin carving tools.

I walked around with the carved out pumpkin and showed it to all of the students.  They were so patient while they waited for their turn to see inside.  They also knocked on the pumpkin to hear the hollow sound.

The children were very engaged during the presentation.  Mr. Henrikson asked who had carved a pumpkin and this is their response. 

If you look to the top left of the picture, you can see some kindergarteners feeling the pulp and seeds of the pumpkin.

Here is Mr. Pumpkin Head all carved out!

When we were finished, we put it in the garden.