Materials Needed
• One (1) Trip to the pumpkin patch (or pumpkin patch pretend play in your classroom)
• Ten (10) Leaves
Instructions:
Step 1: While walking through the pumpkin patch with your child, tell them to look around at all of the pumpkins.
Step 2: Explain to the child that all of the pumpkins cost money, if you want to take them home.
Step 3: Tell the child that you are going to pretend that each leaf is $1.
Step 4: Tell the child to go find a pumpkin that they like and find the number on the pumpkin (the price).
Step 5: Next, ask the child to identify the price. Adult help may be needed for this step.
Step 6: Once the child knows the price, ask the child to count out the amount of leaves (pretend dollars) that equals the same number (price) on the pumpkin.
Step 7: Repeat the activity with multiple pumpkins.
Step 8: If the child is old enough understand different characteristics of the pumpkin (big, small, color, type), ask them if they notice why some pumpkins are more expensive then other pumpkins (example: the BIG pumpkins cost more dollars than the SMALL pumpkins).
Optional: The adult can carry around a piece of paper with a pen and write down the price of each pumpkin. When the child is done matching prices with the leaves, ask them to look at all the prices they found. Can the child circle the number that is the largest? Do they remember which pumpkin that one belonged to? How about the smallest number?
