Let kids be a part of the fall festivities with this easy sensory activity. Inviting children to a pumpkin washing station is the perfect play idea. Bonus: it doesn’t require you to buy any additional items. You have all the supplies you need.
What is a pumpkin washing station?
Hello Fall activities and all the pumpkins and joy that comes with it. Who doesn’t love a world with Octobers (right, Anne)?
A perfect way to kick off the fall season (or jump start a long day) is to let your child wash the pumpkins.
That’s right: water, dirt, pumpkins, and toddlers. It’s a winning combination that kids gravitate to and it’s one of the best ways to make it to nap time on a fall day.
RELATED: Looking for more fall activities for toddlers? Check out my list!
Looking for more structure each day?
Check out Playing Preschool: Busy Toddler’s 190-day at-home activities program
How to set up this fall activity
This activity is just about as easy as they come. As long as you’re also someone who loves to over buy pumpkins each year (guilty), there are no extra materials to make this happen.
You have everything you need (and probably too much, too).
Here’s the quick step-by-step.
- Find a large storage container or use your kiddie pool or water table. Having a space to contain the pumpkins is key to keeping them from rolling away.
- Add in some dirt from the yard (nothing fancy, just regular yard dirt).
- Get the dirt good and muddy with water. Kids love being a part of this action.
- Add in the pumpkins and roll them around to get them good and dirty before their cleaning.
- Set a bucket of clean soapy water next to the muddy bin or in the muddy bin if you have room.
- Provide scrub brushes and sponges for your child to clean the pumpkins.
RELATED: Fall memories don’t have to be expensive. Check out my Fall Bucket List for families (it’s a free download).
Need a realistic Fall Bucket List?
Check out this list of cheap, easy, and mostly free ideas for families.
Tips – How to make pumpkin washing station a success
My kids (ages 4 and 2 here) loved this activity. It’s just the perfect combination of fall fun, being outside, sensory magic, and washing things.
To make sure it was successful, here are a few tips I’ve learned over the years:
- Have one scrubbing brush or sponge per child (sharing is hard in early childhood).
- Have extra towels on hands for little hands and little pumpkins.
- Be prepared for kids to get wet and dirt during this activity (a messy kids is a happy kids).
- Leave this activity outside as an option. Let kids bounce back to the activity as they please. They may only play for a few minutes when you first set this up. Kids are like cats… they need to come to things on their own (wink).
Other variations of the “washing station” activity
Over the years, I’ve learned that my kids and their friends are obsessed with washing stations (which is why a pumpkin washing station was an absolute must).
I use this “formula” all the time because I know it’s something kids love to play.
If your child is anything like the many children I have set up washing station activities for, here are other activities that might be perfect for them.
Kids learn so much from water play activities – so it’s a good thing to keep coming back to these set-ups.
What are kids learning at a pumpkin washing station?
We never need to justify play (because all play is learning), but it is fun to consider how much a child can get out of something so simple. It doesn’t take much to make the learning opportunities absolutely explode for kids, even by just washing some pumpkins.
- Life skills: working on learning how to use cleaning supplies
- Sensory: exploring the mud and water
- Fine motor skills: using hand-eye coordination, hand muscles, and grip to clean
- Dramatic play: using imagination skills to develop story lines
RELATED: Why is sensory play so important for children? Check out this post that breaks down the ins and outs of sensory activities.
How to clean up this fall sensory activity
The clean up was a breeze.
At the end, we dumped the mud and water back into our backyard dirt area, and gave the pumpkins a final hose off before adding them back to the porch.
Make sure to dry them off well.
There’s nothing my kids love more than washing these porch pumpkins all.season.long. This is a repeated activity until the pumpkins are finally no more.
(Sometimes, we even paint the pumpkins BEFORE we wash them. It’s extra and next level fun.)
Frequently asked questions
Think stages not ages. Instead of focusing on a child’s age, consider the stage of life they are in as well as their personality. Some children will love this before age 2. Some might never enjoy this activity. It’s up to you to decide when you think your child will be ready AND if they’d like it.
If you don’t have a storage container, try setting up this activity in the sink (just skip the mud part). Washing pumpkins in the sink is one of the first activities I ever did with my oldest.
Not all kids will! Activities are like food. We don’t expect all kids to like all foods…and we can’t expect all kids to like all activities. If your child doesn’t like an activity, remember that for next time. Set up other styles of activities.
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Mo says
Thank you! We will be washing pumpkins after our hay ride to the pumpkin patch this week!