Pumpkin investigations

 In the classrooms, teachers have put out a number of pumpkin related works including parts of the pumpkin, dissecting pumpkins, hammering pegs into pumpkins, scrubbing pumpkins and more.

 In the studio we took some time to investigate the pumpkins and communicate our learning through a few of the languages of expression.  One child even composed a pumpkin song that he sang while performing a subtle dance.

 Several children chose to draw the pumpkins and fall inspirations, using black sharpie outlines and water soluble pastels.  Water soluble pastels are of interest to the children because colors can be easily blended.

Several of the children told me what they knew about pumpkins.  Here are a few examples:

Ilsa B.
You can make pumpkin pie and you can eat the seeds and you can make jack o lanterns with them and you can put them out for Halloween.  They are a fruit.  They have seeds inside them.

Lila B
You can bake the seeds to make something good for you and you can make jack o lanterns and you can make pumpkin pie with them.  Pumpkins are orange and grey and a lot of colors.  I think maybe it's a fruit.

Emma W.
We can make pumpkin pie and scary faces and pumpkins light up.  Pumpkins come from trees.  I have one in my yard.

Duncan P.
Pumpkins have super icky guts inside.  They have a really prickly stem sometimes.  The vine is really big.  Sometimes you can eat pumpkin pie.  Actually, I have never made pumpkin pie.  We can make it after we do a pumpkin drawing.  Jack o Lanterns are pumpkin faces.  Last year we made two of them but they get squishy when you cut holes in them.