It seems like the air here is trying to get cooler, trying to convince us that fall is on the way...but actually, the most accurate way of determining fall's arrival is more expensive produce and - my favorite - the abundance of pumpkins popping up at the stores.
Pumpkins are so quintessentially fall. They're deliciously round and bright and they just seem to beg to be eaten, carved, or decorated. I especially enjoy doing fall-themed crafts with the girls and am ready to try some new stuff this year. My friend Rachel made totally cool pumpkins with her daughter and as soon as I replenish my craft cupboards (most of which got left in china), I'm planning on having some glittery pumpkins on my doorstep!
But...since we currently own no glitter, I was still in the mood for enjoying some pumpkin-ness the other day. We decided to compile lots of random things we'd been learning about in school and make a big project out of it. You know me; I love a good project. =)
The main idea? Making a graph. We've been looking at lots of graphs these days in math class, so I wanted to do something where the girls would have to gather and compile data. And it had to involve something fallish.
In the end, we stopped at a local grocery store that had a beautiful fall display in front, and were going to measure 12 pumpkins. I picked twelve randomly - it seemed like enough data to make a graph, and it was an even number so both girls would have equal opportunity to measure and record.
Plus, we had a clipboard. I LOVE using clipboards. I have no idea why I'm so drawn to them. It's a great mystery of my life.
I'm trying to pass on the love of clipboards to my kids, as you can tell here:
Measuring a pumpkin was tricky. At first, they wanted to measure it at the top because it was the easiest, but then we discovered that information didn't really tell us anything. They figured out on their own that measuring in the middle gave us the most useful information. 
But measuring the cement just might give you some valuable information too.Just kidding, of course...
There was this one HUGE pumpkin - I knew it would throw of all our data, so we just took a picture by it. [Truthfully, our measuring tape wouldn't even fit around it! We guesstimated it at about 67 inches across!]
We came home from the store and cut apart all our data and sorted it. We discovered that most of our pumpkins were between 32 and 34 inches across. [I'm including an extra "34" that I found under the table the next morning. Oops!] We put it in the form of a bar graph and can now officially welcome fall with our first Fall craft/activity!
So tell me! Tell me! What are your favorite fall crafts and activities to do with your kids? I feel like all my ideas are used up, old, and uninspired. Inspire me!!
There was this one HUGE pumpkin - I knew it would throw of all our data, so we just took a picture by it. [Truthfully, our measuring tape wouldn't even fit around it! We guesstimated it at about 67 inches across!]
We came home from the store and cut apart all our data and sorted it. We discovered that most of our pumpkins were between 32 and 34 inches across. [I'm including an extra "34" that I found under the table the next morning. Oops!] We put it in the form of a bar graph and can now officially welcome fall with our first Fall craft/activity!
So tell me! Tell me! What are your favorite fall crafts and activities to do with your kids? I feel like all my ideas are used up, old, and uninspired. Inspire me!!
4 comments:
Our favorite Fall craft is going to the Pumpkin Patch with Emma and Samantha and picking out some pumpkins for G to carve. This year we will get to take Abby. How fun it will be! I'm so excited..we need to hurry up and do it..like in the next week.
I hope the weather stays pretty. In 2008 when you were here & we did this, do you remember how we got the sprinkler off to rinse off the pumpkins,etc.? The girls thought the etc. was...rinsing off each other with the hose & getting each other soaked! They actually thought..play in the sprinkler/hose time! It became a "semi-bathing" suit activity.
I was just thankful you thought this was a "good idea!" You calmly and happily said, "Mom, they don't get to play in the sprinkler or with a hose in Asia." I thought, "Well, how ridiculous is it that we, ourselves (G & Mimi) did not actually concoct this as part of the "fall activity?"
So..weather allowing..we will do the water part of "Fall Fun!" Rain or shine..we will pick out pumpkins & we will carve pumpkins.
I love October and I love Indian Summer and Fall in O K L A H O M A!
My pumpkin creativeness is baking pumpkin pie from a can. This I willdo later this week. Rachel, you are such an excellent teacher. Tell me--did you talk about diameter and circumference. I hoped the store manager did not come out to see if you were carting off those huge pumpkins. I loved the pictures of the girls. They are so lucky to have you, my dear. Nana
That's an AWESOME project! I'm totally impressed.
And I love clipboards too.
But I love graphs even more.
Sorry this is so long after your post, but I'm just getting around to reading some of the fall posts from The Inspired Room!
Another math idea you might try is to take a picture of a pumpkin, like on your graph, and estimate how many of something could fit around the perimeter. (A fun thing to use could be candy corns, if you don't mind the sugar!) Then of course you have to see how many actually fit. Then find the difference between what you predicted and what fit. Then, you could estimate how many it would take to "fill up" the pumpkin. Then try it, and calculate the difference.
It's a fun activity, and you can adapt if for any time of year. (How many acorns will fit around the turkey, how many stars will fit around the Christmas tree, etc.)
Have fun!
Post a Comment