Printable Pumpkin Activities for Kids

Looking for fun pumpkin activities for kids?  This fun activity is great for building fine motor skills with a fun fall theme!

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Pumpkin Activities: Pick a Pumpkin!

Lately I’ve been looking around for new pumpkin activities to try with my kids at school to work on developing their fine motor skills.

So many of the kids I see for occupational therapy struggle with fine motor coordination, grasping skills, and in hand manipulation skills, so I have to be quick on the draw with fun, creative fine motor ideas that will get (and keep) their attention long enough to really hone in on these skills.

Fall is in the air here in Ohio, so I created some cute pumpkin activities to try with my preschoolers this week, including this one!  This activity is great for grasping and in hand manipulation skills and requires smooth, fluent movements to pick and plant the “pumpkins” all over the pumpkin patch!

What You’ll Need

–Pick a Pumpkin printable

-Orange manipulatives (buttons, beads, pompoms, or flat-sided marbles)

-Small container for your manipulatives

What to Do

Print the Pick a Pumpkin printable and place the orange-colored manipulatives in the container.

There are a couple of different pumpkin activities you can try with this printable.  Start by having the child pick up a few of the manipulatives and hold them in his hand.  See if he can bring one “pumpkin” from his palm to the tips of his Super Fingers and place it on one of the circles, “planting a pumpkin”.  Continue with the rest of the “pumpkins”.

Now that the pumpkin patch is planted, it’s time for harvesting! :)  Can the child pick up one pumpkin at a time, store it in his palm, and pick up another pumpkin?  How many can he pick up in a row?

How to Change it Up

-If the child is having difficulty with picking up the manipulatives from the table or container, try handing them to him one at a time instead.

-Use larger manipulatives for younger children or kids who are having difficulty coordinating the movements.

-If manipulating multiple “pumpkins” is too hard, start with placing just one of the manipulatives in the child’s palm and having him bring it to his fingertips to place in the pumpkin patch.

-Try this activity with tongs or tweezers and orange pompoms.

For Virtual Sessions:

Have the child draw their own pumpkin patch, following your directions to draw 10 small circles onto their page, connecting the circles with lines (pumpkin vines).  Then, complete the activity as directed above, modeling each step.

Skill Areas Addressed

Grasp, coordination, visual motor integration, fine motor skills, in-hand manipulation skills

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Claire Heffron

Claire Heffron is co-author at The Inspired Treehouse and a pediatric occupational therapist in a preschool/primary school setting. She began her career with a bachelor's degree in magazine journalism but quickly changed course to pursue graduate studies in occupational therapy. She has been practicing therapy for 10 years in public and specialized preschool/primary school settings. She is a mom to three funny, noisy boys and relies on yoga, good food, and time outside to bring her back to center.

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