Preschool Storytime Ideas
Pumpkin Gardening
If you would like an October storytime without the emphasis on Halloween or scary creatures, try a storytime on pumpkins! The following books have little or no Halloween elements in the plots.
For a craft activity preschoolers can do, make simple pumpkin seed art project by gluing seeds to an outline of a pumpkin. Or, use Mr. Potato Head accessories to make Mr. Pumpkin Heads, by poking the nose, eyes, etc. into small pumpkins.
Books
Cooper, Helen. PUMPKIN SOUP. Three forest friends make pumpkin soup.
Duke, Kate. READY FOR PUMPKINS. A classroom hamster learns to grow a pumpkin.
Hall, Zoe. IT’S PUMPKIN TIME! A brief but engaging look at how pumpkins are grown.
Lewis, Kevin. THE RUNAWAY PUMPKIN. Lots of rhythm and rhyme makes this a great read-aloud about a huge rolling pumpkin.
McNamara, Margaret. HOW MANY SEEDS IN A PUMPKIN? In this fun book with a math theme, a class estimates how many seeds are in various pumpkins based on their sizes.
Minor, Wendell. HOW BIG COULD YOUR PUMPKIN GROW? Using adjectives such as enormous, gigantic, colossal, and more, huge pumpkins are shown against several U.S. landmarks.
Mortimer, Anne. PUMPKIN CAT. Mouse shows Cat how to grow pumpkins.
Moulton, Mark K. THE VERY BEST PUMPKIN. Peter grows wonderful pumpkins on the family farm, including a lone pumpkin by itself in a field that gets special care.
Raschka, Christopher. GIVE AND TAKE. A farmer takes pumpkins and gives apples on advice of two little men in this tale on finding a balance in life.
Rockwell, Anne. APPLES AND PUMPKINS. A young girl picks apples and searches for the perfect pumpkin in this classic picture book.
Spurr, Elizabeth. PUMPKIN HILL. Thousands of pumpkins roll down a hill – what can the townsfolk do with them?
Yoon, Salina. PENGUIN AND PUMPKIN. Penguin and Bootsy plan a trip to see the Fall colors but won’t take little brother Pumpkin, so he figures out a way to come with them.