This week we are all about Halloween and pumpkins

We are going to be investigating our pumpkins and learning about their life cycle

We are going to make pumpkin volcanoes

We are going to be returning to the pumpkin patch

To collect some more pumpkins

For our Harry Potter party on Sunday

And we will be giving our pumpkins a bath

There are so many ways to play with pumpkins

I will be sharing all our play and learning this week over on Instagram

There are all ready lots of ideas on my feed

For autumn and Halloween play

Here are 7 no carve ways to play with pumpkins

Use some munchkin pumpkins in your bookish play and book baskets

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I have recreated a story basket from last year for one of our most loved autumn books, Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper. I have used our cat, duck and squirrel from @lankakade, a toy saucepan, a measuring spoon and a munchkin pumpkin from @pumpkinmoonuk Looking forward to some fireside sensory storytelling this afternoon. #storytime #storybasket #sensorystorytime #sensorystorytelling #bookishplay #bookbasedplay #bookinspiredplay #pumpkinmoon #pumpkinplay #pumpkinsoup #weloveautumnplay2019 #weloveautumnplay #weloveautumnbooks #childrensbooks #kidsbooks #picturebooks #bookish

A post shared by Family Blogger UK 😊Jennie (@edspire) on Oct 17, 2019 at 5:51am PDT

Wrap your pumpkins in rainbow coloured rubber bands

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Today we put a twist on an old favourite activity. We wrapped our pumpkins in rainbow coloured elastic bands. They look so pretty decked in all the bright colours. Edie, Bea and I did this today and then we played with our pumpkins and our wibbly wobbly stacker. A no mess, no fuss, no carve way to pretty your pumpkins and be able to use them in your play! Makes for great photo opportunities too! #somanywaystoplay #pumpkinplay #pumpkindecorating #prettypumpkins #rainbowpumpkin #play #toddlerplay #preschoolplay #weloveautumnplay2019 #sensoryplay #letthemplay #timetoplay #playmatters @pumpkinmoonuk

A post shared by Family Blogger UK 😊Jennie (@edspire) on Oct 20, 2019 at 2:15pm PDT

Make your pumpkins sparkle with starry stickers or use stickers to create autumn scenes

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Today we had great fun with our @pumpkinmoonuk pumpkins. We decorated them in different ways. I think Bea and Edie’s favourite decorations were stickers. We used rainbow stars, gold and silver stars along with some autumn scene stickers all from @bakerrossltd Star stickers with pumpkins sitting on mirrors made really pretty decorations. They would be lovely displayed around the house. Bea was very proud of her autumn picture that she made on an orange and green pumpkin. It was really effective. Edie just loves sticking and unsticking and sticking again. Have you used stickers on pumpkins before? #somanywaystoplay #manywaystoplay #stickerfun #pumpkinplay #autumnplay #weloveautumnplay #weloveautumnplay2019 #welovehalloweenplay #pumpkindecorating #timetoplay #playmatters #letthemplay #play #autumn #playideas #eyfsideas #toddlerfun #preschoolplay

A post shared by Family Blogger UK 😊Jennie (@edspire) on Oct 22, 2019 at 2:45pm PDT

Use push pins and elastic bands to make pumpkin geo boards

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We love playing with pumpkins. Yesterday we used giant push pins and rainbow bright elastic bands to make our pumpkins into geo boards. We pushed the pins into the pumpkins and then stretched coloured elastic bands over them. We made lots of shapes and colours while developing our finger strength and fine motor skills. Edie age 2 lived this activity and was very careful not to spike herself or others with the pins #somanywaystoplay #manywaystoplay #pumpkinplay #pumpkins #pumpkindecorating #toddlerplay #preschoolplay #eyfsideas #eyfs #timetoplay #letthemplay #sensoryplay #weloveautumnplay2019 #welovehalloweenplay2019 #playmatters #play #playandlearn #playfullearning

A post shared by Family Blogger UK 😊Jennie (@edspire) on Oct 23, 2019 at 12:22am PDT

Develop fine motor skills along with hand eye coordination by hammering golf tees into your pumpkins

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For some pumpkin fun today grab yourself a hammer and some wooden golf tees. This is such a fun idea for pumpkin decorating! Esther, Bea and Edie love hammering tees into pumpkins and making their own imaginative creations. We have made planets, spiky sausage dogs and prickly hedgehogs. We have combined tees with push pins and rubber bands. So many ways to create and play! Brilliant for developing fine motor skill and hand eye coordination. Go on, have a go. See what you can do! #pumpkinmoon #pumpkinplay #pumpkindecorating #pumpkinideaswithoutcarving #pumpkinideas #somanywaystoplay #weloveautumnplay2019 #weloveautumnplay #welovehalloweenplay #welovehalloweenplay2019 #halloweenideas #eyfs #eyfsideas #playideas #timetoplay #letthemplay #playmatters #betterthananytoy

A post shared by Family Blogger UK 😊Jennie (@edspire) on Oct 23, 2019 at 12:49am PDT

Make Jack O Lanterns with sticker packs. We found ours in Aldi and Lidl.

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We have had such fun this afternoon decorating our pumpkins with a sticker kit from @lidlgb These are the pumpkins we plan to carve but before doing that we wanted to play around with these reusable stickers. We made lots of different characters and funny faces. Such a fun way to spend a rainy afternoon! #pumpkinmoon @pumpkinmoonuk #pumpkinstickers #pumpkindecorating #pumpkinfaces #nocarvepumpkin #nocarvepumpkins #nocarvepumpkinideas #pumpkinideas #pumpkinplay #pumpkins #pumpkinseason #weloveautumnplay2019 #welovehalloween #welovehalloweenplay #pumpkinfun

A post shared by Family Blogger UK 😊Jennie (@edspire) on Oct 25, 2019 at 2:16pm PDT

Pick a pumpkin, Paint a pumpkin then start all over again!

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A super simple pumpkin play that can last all day. Grab some pumpkins give them a brush and a polish then paint them with @littlebrianpaintsticks You can then give them a bath to wash all the paint off, dry them and paint them again. Hours of fun! Will you try some pumpkin painting today? #pumpkinplay #pumpkindecorating #pumpkinpainting #pumpkinideas #halloweenideas #nocarvepumpkin #nocarvepumpkins #toddlerfun #preschoolplay #oursensoryhalloween #pumpkinseason #pumpkinfun #rainbowpumpkin #playideas #timetoplay #pumpkins #weloveautumnplay2019 #welovehalloweenplay2019

A post shared by Family Blogger UK 😊Jennie (@edspire) on Oct 28, 2019 at 12:18am PDT

Happy pumpkin playing!