Crayons and Whimsy: Finger Painting and Describing Pumpkins

This is one of my favorite October boards and activities. And I just had to get a quick post in before the month ends..... although pumpkins in November can work too.

Anyway, I love this board because the kids artwork is so true to kinder and because the kids use the board throughout the month.

First of all, they each finger paint a pumpkin. There is not traced shape or anything at all. The goal is for these pumpkins to be as different as possible....to help us later brainstorm adjectives and because so many of the other projects I do with them require templates and all that... and as cute as those turn out sometimes I need some good old fashioned kindergarten-ness!

The adult will ask them before they start painting, "What kind of pumpkin do you want to make?" The goal is here is that they may start using adjectives... and again, getting themselves ready to share later on when we create the graphic organizer.

{Quick fingerprinting side note: I use white paper that is made especially for fingerprinting so it is shiny and slick. I also put a bit of starch in the tempera paint to help it be easier for the kiddos to use. I also have a one hand in the paint rule... I know... not as fun...but one is more than enough!}

Okay... so after we paint the pumpkins I have an adult cut them out and display them with the circle title "pumpkins."

As a class we come back and take a look at our patch and I ask them to describe to their neighbor where their pumpkin is on the board. Again, trying to get them to warm up and start using the vocabulary I will be looking for in a minute. This doesn't 100% work because some will say, "It is the one with my name on it." And well.... they are right.

Then we go around and give describing words and I write and staple as they tell them to me. Later, I added the green yarn. And voila....it is done.

Now we start to use the board. Some kids who were early finishers would sit back by the pumpkin patch and write a sentence using at least one of the new adjectives or describing words. On a sentence strip on the ground I had "My pumpkin is ________" and asked them to complete the sentence.