Storybook Pumpkin Patch in Your Library
A storybook pumpkin patch is a great way to celebrate books and autumn in our school libraries!
This is one of my very favorite activities in our school library! It promotes reading with our families, lets our students show their creative side, and decorates the library with colorful reading promotions–all with very little time invested on my part!
Here’s how it happens.
The Pumpkin Patch Flyer
First, before the long Columbus Day weekend, I send a flyer home with all of our preK-5th grade students. It explains the rules:
- pumpkin must be smaller than a basketball
- no cutting the pumpkins (they will rot very quickly)
- everyone gets a prize when they pick up their pumpkin
- on the back of the flyer, students write the title and author of their book and tell us a little bit about the character
The Pumpkins
My students are so proud to bring in the pumpkins that they’ve created with their families. Even though some of the pumpkins are based on movies or songs or video games rather than books, we display them all. We cover the tops of our bookshelves with green butcher paper, and display each pumpkin with its flyer next to it. If we have the book in our library, we display the book next to its pumpkin.
We’ve also decorated pumpkins as a fun faculty meeting activity and as a family involvement project in connection with a PTA meeting.
The Pumpkin Patch
Classes like to tour our storybook pumpkin patch during their library visits, watching it grow more pumpkins day by day. Teachers appreciate a change of scenery from the classroom that involves talking about reading and books.
Our students can bring in a pumpkin any time before the take home day (typically October 31, unless that date falls on a weekend). We have beautiful, student-created, reading-centered fall decorations, without any reference to Halloween.
When students pick up their pumpkins to take them home, I give them a scratch and sniff bookmark from Demco, or some other inexpensive fall treat.
A Freebie for You
I’ve posted my flyer as a freebie for you in my TPT store here.
You can just edit the flyer to fill in the dates that work for you, make copies, and watch a storybook pumpkin patch grow in YOUR school library!
Why try a Storybook Pumpkin Patch?
This activity takes very little work for you, as a school librarian, especially now that I’ve given you a head start with the flyer. Families are so proud when they bring in the pumpkins they’ve created together. Teachers, students AND administrators are SO HAPPY about the library and reading when they walk through the library and admire the storybook pumpkins. This will become a school tradition that younger siblings eagerly look forward to. I would love for you to share photos of YOUR storybook pumpkin patch in our Learning Librarians Facebook group!
Happy reading!
Wow. You must work in a very affluent area. Asking my students to purchase a pumpkin and decorations would be considered completely “culturally insensitive” as only a small percentage of families would be able to make such purchases without it affecting their weekly budget. However, it’s an adorable idea. I think I will ask local farmers to see if we could get small pumpkins donated and then groups of students could work on this activity during library time.
Julie,
I would not say we are in an affluent area–our school is about two-thirds free and reduced lunch. Many of our students buy a fake pumpkin at the Dollar Tree (for $1), then decorate it with items they find around the house. The storybook pumpkin patch gives our families the opportunity to show off their fun and creativity without spending a lot of money. Some teachers bring a pumpkin to school and the students decorate it together as a class.
Thanks for your comment!
Cari
Thanks for sharing. Love this idea!!
My students are excited about doing this! Many are going to the pumpkin patch this week and will use their pumpkins that they get at the pumpkin patch.
What do you give for prizes?