It's Pumpkin Time: Fun Factoids to Share with Kids!

Amazing Pumpkin Facts!

1. Pumpkins are thought to have originated in Central America, specifically Mexico. Some seeds found date back to 5500 B.C.

2. Top pumpkin growers are U.S. farmers, growing more than 1.5 billion each year.

3. The word pumpkin comes from the French word for “large melon”, pompon. The English used “pumpion” and colonists used “pumpkin”.

4. The World’s Largest Pumpkin Pie was made in New Bremen, Ohio, in 2010. 1,212 lbs of canned pumpkin, 109 gallons of evaporated milk, 525
pounds of sugar, 14.5 pounds of cinnamon, 7 pounds of salt and 2796 eggs were used. It weighed 3699 pounds.

5. Did you know that pumpkins are 90 percent water?

6. Some people used to believe that pumpkins could cure snake bites and help remove freckles!

7. In addition to orange, pumpkins can be green, yellow, tan, white,red and blue.

8. The “Pumpkin Capital of the World” and home to Libby’s Pumpkins is Morton, Illinois.

9. The fibrous strands of string and seeds are called the “brains” of the pumpkin.

10. Carving pumpkins originated in Ireland using potatoes, rutabagas and turnips. Irish immigrants to America started using pumpkins as they were easier to carve and hollow!

11. Part of the squash and cucumber family (cucurbita), pumpkins are actually considered fruit!

12. Ohio, Illinois, California and Pennsylvania are the top pumpkin-growing states.

13. In 2013, Keene, NH, kept the record for the most lit pumpkins! 30,581, in fact.

14. Crowned the heaviest pumpkin grown in North America (2014) on record, a very large pumpkin weighed in at a whopping 2,058 pounds.

Activities:
• Illustrate a picture of one of the facts learned.
• Write a poem about a pumpkin.!
• Pretend you are a pumpkin and write about your day in the pumpkin patch, on a porch or waiting to be purchased at a farmer’s stand.

* Try my webquest on Pumpkins: 10 web questions with several comprehension questions (lots of extension activities).
              

~Gail