Runaway Pumpkin Halloween Experiment

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It’s October, so now we can officially go crazy for Halloween!  Okay, okay, we’ve already been getting excited for the past month, I admit.  But now I feel like I can really go to town!

One of our favorite Halloween picture books is one we discovered a couple years ago, The Runaway Pumpkin by Kevin Lewis.  This is a marvelously fun book to read.  The text bounces along, just as the runaway pumpkin does as it thumps and bumps its way down the hill of the Baxter farm.  As the enormous pumpkin crashes through the barn and splatters through the pig sty, the family members try to catch it, as they dream of pumpkin pie and pumpkin soup.  Yet it is the father who comes up with a clever plan to stop the pumpkin’s rolling and move it into the kitchen so Granny can begin cooking.

The boys and I adore this book, and it’s hard to read without bouncing in your seat, at least a little.  So I thought it only appropriate that we should do a pumpkin rolling experiment to explore the book further.

I wasn’t brave enough to let the boys have at it with a full sized pumpkin, so we used several mini pumpkins instead.  Our quest was to find the “best” way to roll pumpkins using our couch cushions.  Where did the pumpkins roll the straightest?  The furthest?  The fastest?

(This would be even more fun to do outside; unfortunately we were stuck indoors because of bad weather and colds).

The Monkeys tried rolling their pumpkins over the arm rests (not very successful) and along the surface of the cushions (better) before we pulled the cushions out at tried them at different angles.  Needless to say, they enjoyed racing their pumpkins down the cushions and around the living room!

What We Learned:

1. Pumpkins roll straighter on a smooth surface.
2. Pumpkins roll more quickly the steeper the angle.
3. Pumpkins can roll far even if they aren’t going very quickly – as long as a little brother doesn’t stop them first.
4. Rolling pumpkins – and climbing on the couch – is fun!

This post is part of an AWESOME Halloween Read and Play Blog Hop.  Make sure to check out the other book based activities from fantastic bloggers!