october 2024
October 17/2024 - This morning, we had an exciting follow-up to our ongoing exploration of pumpkins! Yesterday, we placed an orange and a pumpkin side by side to help the children explore the concepts of big and small, light and heavy. Their curiosity grew as they began discussing what might be inside the pumpkin, with some confidently saying it had "bones."
This morning, just before our snack, we decided to cut the pumpkin and an orange in half to see what was really inside. The children were thrilled when we finally opened it! As soon as the pumpkin was split in two, they burst into joyful screams, screaming joyfully “yeeeeaaaahhhhhh”.
Looking at the pulp inside, M, C and E were curious to touch the inside. When asked how it felt, they shared their observations: "It’s cold!" "It’s soft!" "It’s smooth!" The sensory experience was engaging for them, and everybody took turns feeling the flesh, pulp and the seeds. P and M were eager to touch the seeds and while closely inspecting the seeds, shared their thought that "the seeds are eggs." (not sure if they’re connecting eggs as seeds as we had eggs in our morning snack). It was such a fascinating connection, and I wondered where this idea had come from in their imaginations.
This pumpkin exploration brought such joy and curiosity to our day. Afterwards, children requested to cut the orange and pumpkin into slices and eat them! We are not sure if the raw pumpkin tasted good but the faces that children made after eating a piece was enough to conclude that it wasn't sweet either!
Don McMahon RECE,
Smriti Bhoray ECE BEd BA in special education
Madhuri Bhalodia BA BEd