In the days leading up to Halloween the children in the Kindergarten room were having many conversations and showing lots of interest in the holiday and dressing up in costumes to celebrate.
Jessica and the educators decided to create something with the children to explore the concepts and traditions surrounding Halloween in America. Together they decided to create a Jack-o-Lantern. Jessica began by marking out a face to cut out of a pumpkin and ensuring the children had their input as to the type of face they would create. The decision being ‘a scary one’. Once that was completed, Jessica cut off the top of the pumpkin and the children helped to scrape out the insides into a bowl.
The children were then presented with an opportunity to taste the pumpkin seeds. Some of the children really enjoyed this, whilst some were not a fan of this new taste. Through this opportunity the children were able to investigate which parts of the pumpkin were edible and which were not – this idea challenged some of the children’s way of thinking about what they can and can’t eat.
Jessica then cut out the eyes, nose and mouth from the pumpkin. Together with Renee the children spoke about what the Jack-o-Lantern was, with a couple of the children making mention that pumpkin is ‘nan gua 南瓜’ in Chinese. They spoke about Jack-o-Lanterns being used to ward off spirits and made a display in the Kindergarten room to show off their hard work and exploration. 
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