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Home / Early Learning / Sensory / Kids Love This Scented Fine Motor Pumpkin Activity for Preschool

Kids Love This Scented Fine Motor Pumpkin Activity for Preschool

Shared by Mary Catherine 16 Comments

This scented pumpkin activity for preschool works on children’s fine motor skills while engaging their senses.

It’s one of our favorite preschool pumpkin activities!

Fine Motor Fun with a Scented Pumpkin Activity for Preschool

Related: 60+ Fall Activities for Preschoolers

My students consistently love our scented “tiny apples”, so I decided to create a pumpkin version.

It’s always fun to build upon materials and ideas that really engage the children. Plus, we were able to get a lot of use out of these sensory materials. We ended up using them again in a couple of super easy Halloween sensory bins.

Once all of the fine motor sensory fun was done, we put the “tiny pumpkins” in a sealed bag and stored them for the following year.

Table of Contents

  • Scent-sational Pumpkin Activity for Preschool!
    • Material Used
    • What We Did
    • Extension Ideas for This Preschool Pumpkin Activity
  • Pumpkin Preschool Lesson Plans
    • Get your pumpkin preschool lesson plans
  • Looking for Another Pumpkin Activity for Preschool?

Scent-sational Pumpkin Activity for Preschool!

Material Used

I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Dry garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas)
Pumpkin pie spice
Small plastic pumpkins
Kid-friendly tweezers (blue with stars, purple)
Pumpkin “jewels”

What We Did

Just like last time, I dyed the beans like And Next Comes L’s Rainbow Chickpeas. Since I was making “tiny pumpkins”, I just used orange liquid watercolors.

Once the chickpeas were dry, I sprinkled pumpkin pie spice on them. Oh, how I looooove that scent! It makes me think of fall, pumpkin pies, and time with family. But I digress!

Fine Motor Tools to Use with a Pumpkin Activity for Preschool

Related: How to Make a Pumpkin Geoboard

Once the scented beans were ready to go, I grabbed a tray, some tweezers, and a bowl.

The tiny pumpkins were placed in the bowl, with a variety of “tools” placed next to them. Kiddos enjoy using different tweezers, so I made sure to include different types.

I set some of the small plastic pumpkins out next to the tray.

This pumpkin activity for preschool works on fine motor skills while engaging the senses

Find pumpkin preschool lesson plans here

Then it was onto some fine motor fun! The plastic pumpkins were filled up using tweezers and little fingers. Then the orange chickpeas were dumped back out onto the tray. I think dumping them was just as much fun as anything else!

The beans did make a cool sound when poured onto the tray. There was random chatter about how many tiny pumpkins could fit into one of the plastic pumpkins. None of the children went so far as counting the beans, but there were a lot of guesses!

A pumpkin activity for preschool that can be changed up for Halloween

Related: Halloween Activities for Preschoolers

The kiddos also discovered that there were jack-o-lantern faces on the plastic pumpkins. Making this discovery cracked them up, then they decided it was “time to fill those jack-o-lanterns up!”

Tiny pumpkin gems were also added to the play after a while. Based on the kids’ exclamations, the beans AND the jewels were beyond exciting!

They collected, counted, moved, transferred, and just plain had fun with everything.

Jeweled pumpkins add another dimension of play to this sensory pumpkin activity for preschool

Related: Pumpkin Patch Small World Play

Extension Ideas for This Preschool Pumpkin Activity

Next time, I’m going to see if we can record our predictions of how many beans could fit in the plastic pumpkin. Then I plan on helping the children count the beans, perhaps counting by groups of ten. It really depends on the interest of the kiddos, of course!

I also plan to make more tiny pumpkins for a giant sensory bin. I know they will get a ton of use this fall! When we’re done exploring them, the scented, colored beans will get packed up and stored for later.

How would you and your kiddos use these tiny pumpkins? Do you have a favorite pumpkin activity for preschool? If you’re looking for more, I have a Pumpkin Pinterest board for you to check out!

Follow Mary Catherine @ Fun-A-Day!’s board {Theme} PUMPKINS on Pinterest.

Pumpkin Preschool Lesson Plans

Save time and get right to the playful learning with our printable lesson plan sets. Each set includes over 30 learning activities related to the theme, and we’ve provided different versions for classroom teachers and home preschool families so all activities are geared directly toward your needs.

Pumpkin Preschool Lesson Plans

Get your pumpkin preschool lesson plans

Preschool Pumpkin Lesson Plans for Classroom Teachers

Pumpkin Lesson Plans for Homeschool Families

You can also find us on Teachers Pay Teachers

Looking for Another Pumpkin Activity for Preschool?

  • Pumpkin glitter jar ideas that are so fun
  • Pumpkin patch small world play
  • Geoboard Pumpkin
scented pumpkin activity for preschool kids

Filed Under: Sensory Tagged With: Fall, Fine Motor, Halloween, Pumpkins

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Comments

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  1. Amanda says

    September 16, 2014 at 11:36 am

    I love this idea! I’m always looking for new ways to keep Harper entertained and learning at the same time!!

    Amanda – Life With Grace

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      September 23, 2014 at 7:00 pm

      Thanks so much, Amanda! Let me know what Harper thinks of this!!!

      Reply
  2. jaime@FSPDT says

    September 16, 2014 at 7:15 pm

    so cool!!

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      September 23, 2014 at 7:01 pm

      Thanks, Jaime!!!

      Reply
  3. kATHRYN says

    September 16, 2014 at 9:05 pm

    This looks like so much fun!

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      September 23, 2014 at 7:02 pm

      We really loved it! 🙂

      Reply
  4. Stephanie @ Twodaloo says

    September 20, 2014 at 12:00 am

    I am obsessed with these and your “tiny apples,” too!

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      September 23, 2014 at 7:02 pm

      You’re awesome, Stephanie! Thank you!

      Reply
  5. Mary says

    September 21, 2014 at 6:35 pm

    I just received my chickpeas and liquid water colors. I can’t believe how easy and fast it was. I cannot wait to use tomorrow in my class. Thanks so much for the great ideas. I think I could have used a 10 or 20 lb bag, tho!!!

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      September 23, 2014 at 7:03 pm

      Yes, I did consider getting a much bigger bag of chickpeas too! And it is SO easy to dye them!! I hope your class loves them. 🙂

      Reply
  6. JDaniel4's Mom says

    September 27, 2014 at 8:43 am

    Thank you so much for linking up to The Sunday Showcase last week. What fun!

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      September 30, 2014 at 10:16 am

      We definitely had a blast! 🙂

      Reply
  7. Robin Peralta says

    October 2, 2018 at 4:01 am

    I cannot tell you how much my kids loved!!! playing with their tiny apples – pumpkins are next! What, I thought, would be a 15 minute activity turned into an hour+ of sorting and dramatic play (they tried counting, but lost interest after a few seconds). They loved the feel of the tiny fruits, the smell and the colors. By the time they had finished, they “made” pies, cupcakes and cakes. In the end, they threw them on the carpet, in our circle time area, and had a race to see who could pick up the most, the fastest. AWESOME!!!!! Thank you for sharing this. Not only did my children love them, but so did my fellow teachers and principal. They were wanting to know where I got such tiny, dried, fruit from.

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      October 7, 2018 at 11:49 am

      This is so awesome to hear, Robin! I can’t wait to hear what your kids think of this pumpkin activity!

      Reply
  8. Robin says

    October 2, 2018 at 4:08 am

    Thank you for posting this. So far, we have tried the tiny apples!!! – tiny pumpkins are next on the list. My children had such a great time with this activity. They loved the feel, smell and colors. It was great watching them pick which ones were their favorite. They weren’t terribly interested in counting; basically lost interest within seconds, however, for an activity, I thought, would take about 15 minutes, actually kept them busy for an hour+. They sorted, and sorted, then began baking in our dramatic play area. They made cupcakes, cakes and pies. Before it was all said and done, they dumped all of the tiny fruit onto the carpet in our circle time area, then had a race to see who could pick up the most in the fastest time. AWESOME activity, plus they made our entire room smell FANTASTIC!

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      October 7, 2018 at 11:49 am

      Oh my word, I love everything about your comment, Robin!!!! It makes me SO happy to hear others have the success I have had with an activity. Isn’t it amazing what captures kids’ attention and gets them playing and learning?! Thank you so much!

      Reply
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My name is Mary Catherine, and I love to share meaningful {and fun} learning activities for kiddos! Feel free to browse and stay awhile!

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