Welcome back to #PLAYfulpreschool! This week, we’re focused on a theme of nuts and seeds – be sure to check out the rest of the team’s ideas at the bottom of this post. I decided to share some name activities kids can try using pumpkin seeds!
Why name activities with pumpkin seeds?
I’m a big believer in name activities in preschool. Children can learn so many concepts with their names, as well as with their friends’ names. Here are just some of the concepts I’ve used names to teach:
- High frequency words
- Letter identification
- Letter sounds
- Letter formation
- Comparing and contrasting
- Counting
Using the colorful pumpkin seeds adds a sense of novelty and provides a different sensory experience for the children as they learn their names. The vibrant colors grab kids’ attentions and let them explore math concepts (like sorting and patterning).
Pumpkin seeds name activities
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Materials
Dry pumpkin seeds
Liquid watercolors (Mine are from Discount School Supply & Amazon has some too)
12″ x 18″ Construction paper
Glue
Sorting tray (I grabbed mine from a local Dollar Tree, but Amazon has some too)
Set up
Dye the pumpkin seeds a day or so before the activity. I placed some seeds in a plastic bag, added a few squirts of liquid watercolors, and then shook up the bag. Once the seeds were colored, I spread them on a paper towel to dry overnight. Sugar Aunts created colorful pumpkin seeds a different way, if you don’t happen to have liquid watercolors on hand. Once the pumpkin seeds were dry, I placed them in a segmented tray for the kiddos. The color was a bit splotchy because I used old salted pumpkin seeds – I think the colors would be more uniform if the seeds weren’t salted.
Cut the construction paper in half so you have 6″ x 18″ pieces. Write the children’s names on the construction paper, then invite the children over to create their names!
What we did
I invited the children over once everything was set up, and they were excited to get started! Honestly, a few were hovering as I set up so they got put to work making sure the seeds were all sorted by color. 🙂
The children traced over the first letter in their names using white glue. They then chose colorful pumpkin seeds to outline that letter. This continued until each letter in their names were outlined with the seeds. Some children chose one color to work with at a time, while others wanted a variety of colors! A few of the children even created patterns with different colored pumpkin seeds on their names!
Once all the kiddos have made a pumpkin seed name, we’ll have a super colorful display up around the classroom!
More pumpkin seed name activities for kids
I just couldn’t resist sharing two more name activities to try! Fantastic Fun and Learning used construction paper “seeds” and a crafty “pumpkin” for her activity. Suzy Homeschooler used real seeds like we did, but in a completely different way!
What are some of your favorite fall name activities for kids? Have you used pumpkin seeds before?
More nuts & seeds ideas from the #PLAYfulpreschool team!
A Full Week of Pumpkin Lesson Plans
Continue learning about pumpkins with our printable lesson plan sets. Each set includes over 30 playful learning activities related to the theme, and we’ve provide different versions for home preschool families and classroom teachers so all activities are geared directly toward your needs.
Get Your Copy
Home Preschool Pumkin Theme Lesson Plans (in our shop or on TpT)
Preschool Classroom Pumpkin Theme Lesson Plans (in our shop or on TpT)
I just love your rainbow pumpkin seeds!
Your seeds are awesome!!!
Love the colored seeds! We’ve been working on our name and this would be so cool.
The pumpkin seeds are so vibrant. We will have to try that. I love how the letters came out using the seeds. Great idea!
What a fun idea! We have two pumpkins left so I think I know what we will do with the seeds!
gorgeous! I love the colors. what a great name activity too
This is a great sensory name activity! I’ve saved it to use next year…our readers loved it, too! Great use of colorful seeds to reinforce name recognition!