If your students are crazy about preschool pumpkin activities, they will love this pumpkin life cycle printable book! The kids can work on early literacy skills as they’re exploring pumpkin science.
You can get your own copy of the printable at the bottom of this post.
Making printable books with preschool and kindergarten children is so much fun (in my opinion)!
Many children really get a kick out of being authors and illustrators, and such books are a step towards doing just that.
Plus, emergent readers really allow children to explore literacy concepts in a predictable, engaging way.
Pumpkin Life Cycle Printable Emergent Reader
This printable book about the pumpkin life cycle can be used with children in preschool or kindergarten.
I created it to be used with children at a variety of levels, and we know that there is a wide range of needs in early childhood.
As with the majority of the printables I create, you can use the pumpkin life cycle printable reader in more than one way. So it’s not just the kids’ needs being met . . . it’s your teaching needs, too!
Related: How to Dye Pumpkin Seeds
Materials for the Pumpkin Reader
You really don’t need too much for this printable pumpkin life cycle activity!
In fact, you likely have everything on-hand already.
- Printable book (get your copy at the end of this post)
- Printer
- Stapler
- Crayons (or colored pencils or markers)
- Laminator (optional)
Assembling the I See a Pumpkin Printable Book
I like making books that are put together without cutting. That might be because I often have trouble finding my scissors. (Please tell me I’m not the only one this happens to!?)
So this book is just print-fold-staple.
First, print the pages out.
Next, fold each page in half with the printed sides facing out. I tend to do all of the pages in the reader at once.
Then arrange the pages in the right order and staple along the left-hand side.
You can see how to fold an emergent reader my way in the video below:
Using the Pumpkin Life Cycle Printable Book with Kids
Once you have the books prepared, it’s time to share them with the kids!
Explain to your students that they’ll be making their very own book about the pumpkin life cycle.
Let the kids look at their books as you walk them through the pages.
Depending on the ages and needs of your students, you might want to do a few different things. Here are some suggestions:
- Look at the pictures and discuss the pumpkin life cycle.
- Have the children help you find the sight words they might know.
- Encourage the children to locate the words pumpkin, vine, flower, and seed based on the initial sound/letter.
There are two versions of the pumpkin life cycle book. One has all of the words printed on each page. This is perfect for most preschoolers and many kindergartners.
Related: Fall Painting for Kids Using Pumpkin Seeds
The other version has a blank space for the word “see.” Children who are ready for it can write the word “see” in the appropriate spot on each page.
Depending on their needs, you might want to assist with this process. For example, you can have a piece of sentence strip with the word on it for the children to reference.
Additionally, you can write the word “see” in yellow marker for the children to trace over. It depends on each individual child’s needs, as well as your goals for the activity.
Both versions of the book allow the children to color in the illustrations.
Once the books are done, be sure to keep them to read together and independently.
Related: Printable Bat Emergent Reader
What Do Children Learn with Emergent Readers?
As I mentioned earlier, this pumpkin life cycle printable book allows for quite a bit of early literacy practice.
Here are some of the things the kids can learn, practice, and explore. Keep in mind, it’s not an exhaustive list:
- Left-to-right directionality
- Printed words can be spoken out loud
- Concept of a word
- Sight words
- Letter-sound correspondence
- Punctuation
- Pumpkin life cycle
- Sequencing
All of that, and more, from one simple printable book about pumpkins. Not too shabby, right?
Pumpkin Books for Preschoolers and Kindergartners
The pumpkin life cycle printable reader is perfect as part of a kindergarten or preschool pumpkin unit.
As such, you’ll likely be reading a variety of children’s books about pumpkins.
So I thought I’d share a few suggestions with you! I love incorporating books into preschool themes, and I highly recommend grabbing some books with real images when teaching about pumpkins.
Do you have a favorite pumpkin book to suggest?
Pumpkin Life Cycle Video
I couldn’t help myself. Here’s a short and sweet video about the pumpkin life cycle from Scholastic:
I like that you can watch the whole process in a quick time-lapse video.
Done-For-You Preschool Resources
Let Preschool Teacher 101 make your preschool teaching life easier with resources already planned out for you. Click on the images below for more information.
Be sure to join the membership waiting list for even more options.
Get the Pumpkin Life Cycle Printable
This pumpkin emergent reader is available to members of Fun-A-Day’s free email community. If you’re a member, add your name and email to the form below to have the printable information sent to your email.
If you’re not a member, you can join by entering your information in the form below. You’ll receive the printable as a welcome!
If you cannot see the above form, click here to enter your information.
looks like a great little book!
Thank you! 🙂
Thank you for all these free printable books…my class loves them!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you! 🙂
I cannot find form at bottom of page to sign up for free Life Cycle of Pumpkin book.
Hi Sue, sorry to hear you’re running into trouble! If your computer is somehow blocking the form (it’s a good sized form under the heading “Get the Pumpkin Life Cycle Printable” near the bottom of the post), try clicking on this link to enter your information!