Hide and Seek with Pumpkins (A Storybook Activity)
I've mentioned before that Pook and I love Duck and Goose Find a Pumpkin. (Anything by Tad Hills is great.) We've read this one countless times again this fall. As a parent/teacher, I like the educational aspect the book. It uses location words (in, on top of, under, etc...) in a natural setting which provides a perfect learning opportunity for toddlers and preschoolers. Pooky loves the silly antics of Duck and Goose. It’s an adorable book that is a pleasure to read over and over.
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Based on this book, I decided to create (yet another) game with some of our mini pumpkins. If you want to see the other ways we’ve played with mini pumpkins, check out Play and Learn with Mini Pumpkins.
Hide and Seek with Mini Pumpkins
Because I like to get the kiddo outside as much as possible, I chose to set this game up in our back yard. I hid a handful of mini pumpkins outside in places where I could describe their hiding spot using some of the same location words found in the book.
"in" the leaf pile
"under" the bench
"on top of" the rock (next to the tree)
Because Pooky is not quite three, I chose hiding places that were still in plain sight. This activity has the added benefit of working on "pattern recognition." (Which one doesn't belong?)
After she found all the pumpkins, Pook took a turn hiding them. As I found each one, I again used the location words to describe where they were.
Pooky enjoyed the hide and seek part of the game, and I liked the educational opportunity it presented.
Variations on this activity:
play it indoors
for older kids, make the hiding spots more difficult and use location words as clues
have older kids hide them and use location words to describe their location
discuss and use other location words (behind, beside, above, etc...)
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If you like outdoor games for toddlers and preschoolers, try these other fun activities using mini pumpkins.
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You can get ideas for all kinds of fun activities from my Fall Activities for Kids board on Pinterest.