Pumpkin Patch Sensory Bin: Practicing Matching with Preschoolers

I am super excited to share with you the pumpkin patch sensory bin that we did for today’s #PlayfulPreschool series. The Playful Preschool team is covering the harvest today. We’ve got posts with math, literacy, pre-writing, science, sensory and much more. Be sure to check out all the great posts by clicking the links at the bottom of this post.

As is our norm, our activity is one part sensory engaging and one part skill building. My daughter loves to explore the textures and details of sensory bins and her attentiveness to the sensory bin helps me to have a few moments to work on specific skills with her. Usually it’s very hard to get her to sit still for more than 30 seconds at a time, but when I pull out a new sensory bin, she becomes completely engaged and will sit for a much longer period of time. Today, I was excited to get a full 20 minutes of working with her before she was tired of the activity.

Pumpkin patch sensory bin supplies

Can I just say that I am thrilled to have access to craft stores again!?!?! It’s like Christmas morning every time I walk into one and see all the possibilities for creating themed activities for the kids.

From Michael’s and A.C. Moore I picked up:

Paper shreds (2 packages)

Felted pumpkin table runner

Fall themed foam stickers

Pumpkin table scatter

And at the farmer’s market last week I picked up some super cute little orange and white pumpkins for $0.50 each.

I combined them all into our sensory box.

I really wanted to work with her on recognizing things that match, similar to the farm activity that we worked on last week. So this week I was very particular about including sets of two in the box. Two orange mini-pumpkins, two white mini-pumpkins, two of each color of felt pumpkins and a good scattering of both the foam pumpkins and the table top pumpkins.

I was thrilled to see the way the fall sun bounced all over the box, casting light and shadows, sparkles on the table scatter pumpkins and creating a beautifully rich feeling of texture beyond even what the materials themselves provided.

Shiloh’s face was so excited as she began to explore the contents of her personal pumpkin patch.

She worked on fine-motor skills as she grasped the tiny plastic pumpkins and the foam stickers.

I allowed her to lead as she picked up one of the small foam pumpkins, I mimicked her and also picked up a foam pumpkin. I told her that the pumpkins matched and repeated it several times as she looked them over.

She also wanted the pumpkins to introduce themselves to each other, so she initiated some role play. She had them hug and even gave my pumpkin a ‘kiss’ from her pumpkin.

We worked our way around the bin as she would pick up a pumpkin and I would pick up one that matched.

Then I let her work independently for a while and it was so fun to watch her pick up two pumpkins that didn’t match and analyze them.

Then, she took those pumpkins and worked on her stacking skills.

After that she moved on to exploring the fun texture of the crinkled paper. She manipulated it in her hands for a while. She held it up to inspect it.

Then she decided to decorate my toes with it.

And then my hair.

And then she wanted it tied onto her feet and legs and I knew that our matching session was done…lol!

Because Shiloh has special needs, your child may be past this skill level, however, feel free to take the idea and make it your own! As I was playing with her, I thought of several ways to expand this matching activity for a more advanced child.

On the foam pumpkins, write uppercase and lowercase letters and have your child search for the matches.

Hide sight words written on pumpkin cut-outs in the bin and find the matches.

Put a toy in the sensory bin that does not coordinate with the theme, such as an apple and have your child find it and explain why it doesn’t belong in the bin.

Use the crinkle paper to measure the different pumpkins and discover which on is the largest, the smallest, and if any of them are the same size as an introduction to non-standard measurement.

The possibilities are endless!

I hope that you will enjoy your own pumpkin patch sensory bin very soon!

Be sure to visit the other great posts for learning with a harvest theme from the rest of the #PlayfulPreschool team!

Plan your PRESCHOOL Harvest Theme Learning Week with Activities from the Playful Preschool Education Team:

• Learning with Gourds: Comparing, Sorting, and Labeling for Fall
• Corny Science: Will it sink or float?
• Plants We Eat {which are roots, stems, leaves, fruit}
• Preschool Math: Measuring Pumpkins
• Making Bread
• Alphabet Activities: Letter Harvest
• There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves Sequencing Cards & Power Point
• Go Global: Harvests Around the World
• Harvest Time: Jamaican Style Music
• Little Red Hen Activity – Retelling through Sensory Play