October and November are great months to have fun with pumpkins. Kid’s Pumpkin Projects: Planting & Harvesting Fun by Deanna F. Cook will keep your children busy all year round. The book is a fun combination of nature, science, history, Native American gardening, cooking and crafts. It’s designed for children from four to ten years old, and has more than fifty fun and educational projects.
The book starts with spring projects such as ordering seeds and planning out a pumpkin patch. Growing your own pumpkins is great fun. They aren’t hard to grow. Pumpkins even grow in Colorado! Young gardeners are encouraged to keep a pumpkin journal to track their pumpkins progress. There are instructions for graphing a pumpkin vines growth. You can give your growing pumpkins tattoos or make them have odd shapes.
Even if you don’t want to grow pumpkins, this is still a great book. Child friendly recipes for pumpkin muffins, cookies, soup, pie, trail mix, and more are scattered throughout the book. There are games, fun crafts, and connections to literature and history. Children can make a Hopi clay pot, a pumpkin hat, save pumpkin seeds for next year’s garden, pretend they are Laura Ignalls Wilder, make seed necklaces, or play relay games with pumpkins.
Throughout the book are scattered bits of “Pumpkin Lore”. Did you know that in colonial times pumpkin was such a favorite food that the port of Boston was called Pumpkinshire? Have you heard the story of “The Three Sisters?”
I love how this book combines gardening, crafts, cooking, history, and storytelling. In this fast age I think it’s great for children to have a project that lasts for months. It’s been a few years since we grew pumpkins in our garden. Thanks to this book I will be sure and include them next year. I had not realized what a vital part pumpkin played in American history. No wonder we have pumpkin pie every Thanksgiving!
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