Why?
Kids Gardening Project with Pumpkin Seeds
I love the idea of growing a pumpkin in a pumpkin. Growing in PreK cleared the pumpkin seeds out of the pumpkin and left the guts and everything else inside. We cleared everything out of the pumpkin using our hands at first. We clawed and pulled the guts and seeds out. Our hands were soon covered in slippery and slimy substances. Then we used ice teaspoons to scrape along the inside of the pumpkin to separate the remainder of the pumpkin’s guts from its interior wall.
When we had completely cleaned out the pumpkin, we headed to the kitchen sink to rinse off the seeds. I am not sure that we needed to clean them off, but I thought it was the right thing to do for this kids gardening project.
With the seeds clean we headed back outside to fill the pumpkin with potting soil. We couldn’t decide how deep into the soil the seeds needed to be. What we decided to do was to add soil then seeds, add soil then seeds, and add soil then seeds. The hope is that we have some seeds at the right depth.
Finally, JDaniel watered the soil to give the seeds a moist area to grow in. We must have put in too much water. Just beneath the pumpkin on a rubber mat, we placed the planted pumpkin on a pool of water appeared. I was so glad we had put drainage holes into the pumpkin for this kids gardening project.
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Pumpkin Hillby Elizabeth Spurr is the wonderful story about how a lonely pumpkin became a whole patch of pumpkins. The lonely pumpkin grew alone on a hill. One day it broke from its vine and rolled down a hill and into a field. When it finally came to a stop, it broke open and scattered its seeds all over a field.
This time a wind blew the pumpkins out of the field and into town. There were pumpkins everywhere. What happened next? Well, you will have to read the story to see what happens to all of them. Let’s just say that were just like they grandfather pumpkin.
Here are some more fun kids gardening activities:
Looks like a fun project. A couple of years ago, we found a seed that had sprouted inside our pumpkin. The root on it was over a foot long.
I never would’ve thought to grow a pumpkin in a pumpkin. I hope your seeds will sprout!
That is so interesting! Pumpkins can be used for so much. My husband bakes in pumpkins! You definitely need a big over for this, but he scrapes them out and makes a delicious stew in them. Best fall meal!
Sort of wishing I lived in South Carolina to give it a go.. too cold in CT to start now! Hope to see the progress in a future post:)
Soo cool, never would have thought to use the pumpkin as the planter! Fun!
I like that you take an idea and run with it. Good luck to you. 🙂
What a fun project – I hope it works!
Oh how fun!!
What a great idea – fingers crossed that you planted lots at the right level.
I’ve been meaning to leave you a comment on this one for awhile, as I keep seeing this post floating around FB and Pinterest. I love the idea of planting pumpkin seeds inside a pumpkin. Sheer genius!
What a fun idea!!! We have never tried it, but must do try it soon!
I am very curious to see if it works! Thanks for sharing with Afterschool!
This looks very cool! We had a few pumpkins in our garden this year. My husband learned his lesson and only let the kids plant a few seeds, as last year they tried to take over everything! Planting inside a pumpkin is such an interesting idea. Thanks for sharing at After School!
This looks so neat! We definitely will be trying it out!!
Cool! I’ve never thought of doing this, but it’d definitely come in handy and save money 🙂
Now that it’s been nearly a year, do you have any updates as to how this experiment turned out? Did the seeds sprout inside the pumpkin? Do you have any pictures?
I posted pictures on Instagram,but not on the blog. It did really well!
I found the Instagram pictures for you. http://instagram.com/p/ffwLE1QpNv/?modal=true
Do you need to keep the pumpkin outdoors or could you leave in classroom to grow?
I think if you put in near a window that it will grow.
I do this every year with my preschoolers only after we carve the pumpkin and enjoy its fun, I put it in an aquarium with dirt and a lid. We watch it decompose through the window all year documenting the progress. Come spring I open it up and put a few seeds I saved in it, add a cup of soil on top, close it back up and we watch the new seeds begin to sprout. When big enough I transfer them to the garden beds and we start the process all over again. It is really cool. I have been doing this for over 10 years. That’s how long this original pumpkin has been giving back.
How does the pumpkin stay fresh !
Will you replant once they get bigger ?
I scraped out any mold as it appeared. You can totally replant them.