Get in the Halloween Spirit with Pumpkin Predictions!

October 20, 2015

Next Saturday is Halloween, so we’re sure you’re busy planning a ton of great holiday activities for the week. Since pumpkins are arguably the most identifiable staple of the holiday, next to candy of course, it’s only right that you try to incorporate as many pumpkin centered educational activities into your lesson plans as possible. Luckily, with their hundreds of seeds, odd shapes and sizes and vastly varying weights, pumpkins are the perfect prop for teaching your class all about the power of predicting!

That being said, here are three different pumpkin prediction games you can play in the classroom that your students are sure to love:

1. Scoop It Out – Bring in a small pumpkin and a roll of wax paper. Slice open the pumpkin and pass it around to allow your students to peer in and guess how many seeds they think there are. Then, break the class into groups and scoop out a handful of seeds onto wax paper for each group. Have each group member make another prediction on how many seeds their scoop holds. Finally, have each group count out their seeds and report their findings. Whoever guesses closest in each group wins! Then, add the numbers together and find your overall winner as well.

2. Weigh It Up – Purchase 3 pumpkins of different sizes and select 3 students to be the “pumpkin masters.” Have each master pass their pumpkin around one at a time, recording the weight guesses of their classmates. After the first pumpkin has made it around the room ask the master to place it on the scale and reveal its weight to the class. The student with the closest guess wins. Repeat these steps with the next two pumpkins and see if your students guesses become closer to the actual weight by the last time around.

3. Bring It Around – Teach your students all about circumference and diameter with the help of a nice round pumpkin. As a group, determine where you think the widest part of the pumpkin is and mark it with a marker. Ask each student to predict the circumference of the pumpkin and measure it with a measuring tape to see who had the closest prediction. Then, break the class into groups and pass out smaller pumpkins. Have the students predict and measure the circumference on their own to determine the closest guess.

If you’re looking for more ways to incorporate Halloween into the classroom, click here!

Remember, you’ll need to decide on prizes for your predicting champions. We suggest candy of course, but be sure to have some small toys as well to accommodate for students that may have allergies.

For over 60 years, Nickerson Corporation has been committed to providing quality classroom furniture solutions to schools in the New York and New Jersey areas. We have partnered with some of the industry’s leading manufacturers in an effort to provide products that are comfortable, reliable and flexible to ensure that students get the most out of their educational experience. If your classroom furniture is out-dated or worn down call us at 631-666-0200 to learn more about the products and services that we offer.