Preschool Pumpkin Math and Science Experiments: What Weighs More?

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Do you find your kiddos more interested in pumpkins lately than school? We do!! I am trying to harness some of that love-of-pumpkins into pumpkin play and pumpkin learning with fun science projects...plus, I really like pumpkins too! This set of pumpkin math and science experiments is fun and engaging, and it goes great with fall, Halloween, and Thanksgiving themes too!


I began this project by asking my preschoolers the question: "Which weighs more?" I started by holding up a small pumpkin and an ear of corn. They made their guesses, we talked about their hypotheses, and then we used this DIY balance scale inspired by this project. Unlike Sarah, we didn't have a set of PVC pipes, but... we did have a hanger.

We hung a set of cups from each side of a hanger, and I asked my preschoolers what would happen if we put something heavy in one cup and light in the other cup. Creating the "scale" ourselves let them see how it worked...and invited them to extend the activity.


Pretty soon we were comparing all sorts of things! Different pumpkins, corn, toys, and many other fall items all made their way into the cups on the hanger!


We experimented with hanging the hanger from different objects, but found we had the least interference with our experiments when we hung the hanger from a lamp. This let it hang freely so we could compare the weights of what was in the cups!


I know Halloween is coming right up, but pumpkins go great with Thanksgiving too, so you may still see more pumpkin activities on here this week!

Do you do math and science experiments with pumpkins? If so, you will love this pumpkin measurement activity!  You will also want to check out our Pumpkin Preschool Theme (I have lots of science projects there too)!
Happy Educating,
Carla
















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