Simple Pumpkin Counting 1, 2, 3

We are kind of late the pumpkin/fall party this year.  We have been so busy with our farm unit for Tot School for Twos that we have neglected to spice up our fall with seasonal activities.  But I am hoping to remedy that situation over the next few weeks.  We are not much for the “scary” part of Halloween and I definitely lean more toward a love of Thanksgiving, so we still have plenty of time for pumpkins and leaves this year.

Our little one is starting to learn to count individual items.  She has known how to count to ten for a while and counts to 20 (missing a few along the way) sometimes, but she often just starts counting to talk, not to actually count.  So, I have been working with her on pointing to each individual item as we count together, SLOWLY!

I found some pumpkin molds at the dollar store a few weeks back and knew they would be perfect for this purpose.  We stopped by and got some candy corn on sale at the drug store the other day and put together a simple counting activity for her to do.

I asked her to put one candy corn in each pumpkin.  I demonstrated the first one for her and she quickly filled each pumpkin place with one candy corn.

Then I asked her to put two candy corn pieces in each pumpkin.  She had to slow down to make sure there were two in each one, but she did it without much trouble.

Next I asked her to put three candy corn pieces in each pumpkin.  This is where it got a little difficult and she wanted to just grab some and put them in the pumpkin places while counting to ten really fast!  We had to SLOW DOWN for her to count each piece.  When there were only two in a place, I asked her how many she needed to add to have three in that spot.  Her answer: “ONE!”  When there was only one, I asked her how many she needed to make it three in that spot.  Her answer: “ONETWOTHREEFOURFIVE!”  Once we slowed down a little bit, she was able to do it, but she does need to be reminded to take it slow!

She has enjoyed this activity and has asked to do it multiple times since we first did it.  And I don’t think it is just because she sneaks a candy corn every once in a while!