By Courtney Duvall, Head Start Teacher |

A big thank you to Fir Point Farms for hosting our staff, children, and families for a Pumpkin Patch event last week!

One of our parent Policy Council members, Kandace Miranda-Soto, organized the event and was able to get us on the farm, free pumpkins for every child that attended, and 4 dozen apple cider donuts donated.

The week leading up to the event, the children in our several of our classrooms worked together to make a “Pumpkin Patch Board”, with leaves, apples, spider webs, and painted pumpkins.

“Welcome to our Pumpkin Patch” by the classrooms at CCC.

I brought a real pumpkin into the classroom, and we discussed and explored the different parts of the pumpkin and cut it open to explore what was inside. We found seeds, sprouts and “guts” as the children called it. We discussed how a pumpkin grows, and where you might find a pumpkin. A lot of the children said, “The pumpkin patch!”

We discussed all the things you might find at the pumpkin patch, and gave the children paper and paint. They made their own version of pumpkins, practicing fine motor skills with the paint brush. They used pipe cleaners and yarn to create their version of the spider webs, and looked through a couple of books in the classroom to see what other animals could live at the pumpkin patch. 

The children who attended the event picked out different types of pumpkins and squash, and we added them to the dramatic play area in our classroom with some bags and signs for them to create their own market like we saw at the patch. 

Everyone that came had a wonderful time and I was excited that parents took it on! Our families have been beyond involved and supportive as a whole center and I’m excited to see what the next event can be.