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To prepare the ring-around-a-pumpkin game in the classroom, start by having the children decorate several pumpkins as jack-o'-lanterns. Instead of using knives to cut the pumpkins, give the children magic markers to decorate the pumpkins with, and have small groups of three to four children decorate each pumpkin.
Line up the decorated pumpkins in a column. Have the children form a line about 2 feet from the closest pumpkin. Give the first child in line three hula hoops. Tell him to aim for any pumpkin he wishes, with the closest being worth 1 point and each pumpkin a further distance away worth an additional point. After the child has thrown all three rings, write down his score. Allow each child to have a turn and award prizes to the players with the highest scores. - Line up between five and ten pumpkins of various sizes in the classroom. Give each child a sheet of paper on which to write a guess of each pumpkin's weight and its circumference around the thickest part. Number the pumpkins and have the children fill in their answer sheet for each pumpkin. After each child has made her guess, allow children to take turns placing each pumpkin on the scale to weigh it then to measure it, revealing the answers. Award a prize for each pumpkin to the child who made the closest weight and circumference guess.
- Purchase some small plastic pumpkins and hide them around the classroom. Once all the pumpkins have been hidden, allow the children enter the classroom and search for them. Allow the children to continue to search either until all the pumpkins have been found or a predetermined amount of time has expired. Place a bowl of candy in the middle of the room and let the children take one piece for each pumpkin they have found. If there are any children who did not find a pumpkin, allow them to choose as many pieces of candy as the child who found the least number of pumpkins.
