Highlights from the First Grade Pumpkin Drop

Introduction

Our first-grade class recently enjoyed a fantastic pumpkin drop event that combined hands-on learning, teamwork, and lots of excitement! With the help of parent volunteers and middle school helpers, our students experienced discovery, creativity, and a bit of pumpkin smashing fun.

Seed Counting and Math Activities

Working in small groups with the support of volunteers, students began by opening their pumpkins and scooping out the seeds and pulp. They practiced their counting skills by grouping seeds into tens and then combining those groups into hundreds, finally tallying up the total number of seeds in each pumpkin.

Carving pumpkins. Students digging in pumpkins. Digging out seeds and pulp. Digging out pumpkins. Counting out seeds. Counting seeds. Counting sees.

Designing and Naming the Jack-o'-Lanterns

After the math activity, each group transformed their pumpkin into a unique jack-o'-lantern. Students not only designed and carved creative faces but also gave their jack-o'-lanterns imaginative names.

Student designing pumpkin. Students with jack o’ lanterns.

Engineering Pumpkin Protection

Next came the engineering challenge: each group brainstormed and built protective packaging to keep their jack-o'-lantern safe during the planned drop from the top of the school building. Creativity and teamwork were on full display as students experimented with different materials and designs.

Pumpkin protection design. Designing protection for the pumpkin. Protecting the pumpkin.

The Exciting Pumpkin Drop Event

On Halloween day, the whole first grade, along with excited onlookers from other grades and some parents, gathered in front of the school. Mr. Kulju hosted the event, announcing each group, their jack-o'-lantern’s name, and the number of seeds counted. As the crowd counted down, each jack-o'-lantern took its turn being dropped from above.

Dropping the pumpkins. Checking the pumpkin. Showing off the pumpkin. Watching the drop. Showing off the pumpkin, Full of expression.

Dramatic Results and Damage Checks

After each drop, groups raced to check the results—most pumpkins were damaged, but a couple survived with only minimal scrapes! For a grand finale, Mr. Kulju dropped a final jack-o'-lantern without any protection, which smashed dramatically, to the delight of everyone watching!

Kids watching pumpkin drop.

Mr. Kulju’s Pumpkin Drop

Conclusion & Looking Ahead

Students had an absolute blast and learned valuable lessons about math, design, trial and error, and teamwork. We’re already looking forward to the second annual pumpkin drop and can’t wait to see what creative ideas next year will bring!

Stanton Township Public Schools

First Annual Pumpkin Drop