Pumpkins float.
I am just here to inform you—or remind you—that pumpkins float.
Yeah, you read that right. PUMPKINS FLOAT.
Why is this important?
Because it’s fun! And it’s something different for toddlers to do during sensory time. A nice, fall-vibed
activity for little ones to explore.
I had heard this fun fact before, but I had never seen it, nor put much thought into it—until we recently went to a pumpkin event at the gym. And their “pumpkin patch” was in the pool!
It was such a cool experience to see, and my son absolutely loved it. I knew immediately that I wanted to incorporate this into his play at home!
How do we go about that?
Well, where we live, the weather is still bouncing between crisp, cool, traditional “fall weather” and “one more day of almost summer vibes.” Some days it’s a breezy sixty degrees, and other days, it’s nearly eighty. Some days we wear pants and jackets, and other days, we’re back in shorts.
So what do we do?
We still utilize our beloved water table whenever we can!
And this time? We are tossing mini pumpkins in.
To add a little more fall fun and increase his sensory options, we collected some leaves to toss in too! They kept sticking to his hands, and he kept rubbing them. He seemed pretty intrigued by the new feel and texture.
Not so lucky where you live?
Too cold for outdoor water play already?
No worries! This can definitely be adapted into an exciting new bathtime activity!
Personally, I would omit the leaves, though. I’m not sure they’d have the same effect indoors—and I’m not sure how clean bathtime would be. 😂
I am all about reduce, reuse, recycle. So, in an attempt to be more eco-friendly, we tried using pumpkins from the decoration aisle instead. The goal was to store them with our fall gear and reuse them next year. But honestly, it’s worth getting the real little pumpkins for this.
The decorative pumpkins do float, but they float a little too well. They don’t go under the water and bounce back up like the real pumpkins do, so my son seemed to find it less exciting. Throwing the pumpkins and watching them splash seemed to be his favorite part of the activity.
So if you’re looking for something simple, seasonal, and toddler-approved—toss some pumpkins in water and let the fun float!
