Occupational Therapy

Mini Pumpkin Stickers Fine Motor Activity

by Colleen Beck
October 1, 2015

This mini pumpkin stickers activity is a fine motor workout for little hands!

Sometimes you have to make Second Grade boring homework a little more fun. Am I right?? Homework is definitely NOT play-based and after a loooong day at school, kids are ready to p.l.a.y! When they have to sit down to do homework and study for those upcoming tests, homework can become more of a battle than is should. Do we ever know this in our house! Some days, a visit to the dentist to pull teeth would be easier than getting the 5 minute homework task done.

English Language Arts in second grade covers nouns and predicates in sentences and my kiddo has been busy figuring identifying nouns and predicates in her decodable readers that are sent home from school. We practiced a bit with these DIY mini pumpkin stickers…and voila!

Pumpkin Predicates were born!

Practicing Nouns and Predicates with a Pumpkin Theme:

Pumpkin Predicate and Noun activity for second grade English Language Arts. Kids will love to identify the pumpkin predicate with these cute DIY pumpkin stickers!

(This post contains affiliate links.)

First, What is a noun and a predicate?

Second graders are responsible for knowing what a noun and a predicate is, by definition and by showing examples in sentences.

A noun is a person, place, thing, or idea. There are proper nouns (like Alabama, Tuesday, and Sammy) and plain old fashion nouns aka: common nouns…(like steak, alligator, and tennis ball). The noun is the subject of the sentence and is the do-er of the action in the sentence.

A predicate is a verb or verb string. It is the action of the sentence.

So, after practicing that with my daughter, off we went on our Pumpkin Predicate fun!

To make the pumpkins, grab a sheet of full-sheet label paper
This is the stuff that has a sticky back and you make address labels with. Very cool and useful stuff in crafting, I might add. Scribble a rectangle of orange with an orange marker. Then, use your hole punch
to make a bunch of orange holes. Use a green marker to make a tiny little stem, and you are done! Instant teeny tiny cute little pumpkin stickers.

We used decodable readers that my second grader had from school. They photocopied booklets that the school has created and sent home with each student. You can make your own sentences to practice predicate and noun naming, use worksheets, the newspaper, or magazines. You don’t want to stick these pumpkin stickers in a real book, because the stickers will be hard to remove.

Have your child name the noun and the predicate in sentences. Place the pumpkin stickers above each predicate. Note: Peeling the backs from the label sheet stickers can be a real exercise in fine motor dexterity! Your kiddo will get their fine motor skills moving!

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So punch out those pumpkins and play away the homework blues. These cute little pumpkins are sure to help make predicate practice a bit more fun!

Looking for more second grade activities with a pumpkin theme? Try these from our Second Grade Blogger Team:

Pumpkin Patch Arrays to Learn Multiplication by School Time Snippets

How to Carve a Pumpkin Writing Prompts by Still Playing School

How to Set Up a Pumpkin Engineering Task Your Second Graders Will Love by Thriving STEM

Pumpkin Seed Place Value – Subtraction Math Fact by Rainy Day Mum

Shapes on a Pumpkin by Preschool Powol Packets

Pumpkin Math Fact Pick and Solve Sticks by Creative Family Fun

Looking for more second grade activities? You will love these:

Second Grade Skip Counting to 1000

Nickel and Dime Skip Counting

Expanded Form Math

Pumpkin activity kit — **Pumpkin Fine Motor Kit**

Grab the Pumpkin Fine Motor Kit for more coloring, cutting, and eye-hand coordination activities with a Pumpkin theme! It includes:

7 digital products that can be used any time of year- has a “pumpkins” theme
5 pumpkin scissor skills cutting strips
Pumpkin scissor skills shapes- use in sensory bins, math, sorting, pattern activities
2 pumpkin visual perception mazes with writing activity
Pumpkin “I Spy” sheet – color in the outline shapes to build pencil control and fine motor strength
Pumpkin Lacing cards – print, color, and hole punch to build bilateral coordination skills
2 Pumpkin theme handwriting pages – single and double rule bold lined paper for handwriting practice

Work on underlying fine motor and visual motor integration skills so you can help students excel in handwriting, learning, and motor skill development.

You can grab this Pumpkin Fine Motor kit for just $6!

Colleen Beck, OTR/L is an occupational therapist with 20+ years experience, graduating from the University of Pittsburgh in 2000. Colleen created The OT Toolbox to inspire therapists, teachers, and parents with easy and fun tools to help children thrive. As the creator, author, and owner of the website and its social media channels, Colleen strives to empower those serving kids of all levels and needs. Want to collaborate? Send an email to contact@theottoolbox.com.

2 thoughts on “Mini Pumpkin Stickers Fine Motor Activity”

Cerys Parker

October 1, 2015 at 11:30 am

What a great idea – I love the book that they have been sent home as well – fantastic to use for all these letter exercises.
Cerys Parker

October 1, 2015 at 11:30 am

What a great idea – I love the book that they have been sent home as well – fantastic to use for all these letter exercises.