Pumpkin Soup: A Book Inspired Fall Sensory Table

{Post contains affiliate links. You can read more here}

We really have been enjoying the fall themed sensory table play over here. I set out to bring you a series of 4 Fall Sensory Tables. I have completed that but we are still having some more fall inspired fun over here. I wanted to share a few more ideas you can set up in the “sensory table” ( sand/water table or bins on table ). This week’s invitation to play was inspired by one of our fall books we recently unpacked with our holiday decorations. It is titled Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper. It’s a book about 3 animals living together that make pumpkin soup.

What we used:

This week I chose to use our sensory bin we play with often. We use this bin for dry and wet sensory play. The great thing about this bin, when we set it on our childrens picnic table, it becomes the perfect sensory table for them to play in.
Warm water, plastic water bottles filled with warm water and orange food coloring, pumpkin and all spice, pompoms, cut pipe cleaners, little black pots, to soup spoons, little plastic pumpkins (I got at Big Lots), and plastic play bowls.

Now it was time to play! This is a wonderful sensory play for the kids. They get lots of hands on in this pumpkin soup fall water table. Water is one of our favorite sensory play materials and it is quick and cheap! There are so many ways to play in a water bin. You can see over 20 ideas right here. Sensory play is great for kids to of course explore their senses, but it also opens up more learning as well. This is great for creativity, hand eye coordination as they pour the soup in the bowl, the scooping and pouring is great for their motor skills. Having one bin teaches the value of sharing and promotes teamwork. This is a great learning tool to go over the color orange, talk about pumpkins, explain the 4 seasons, and it also gives them freedom to make their own decisions while playing. They mix what they want and pour the soup into which container they choose. My kids love to make their own decisions. Ok, ok back to what we did not what we learned. I often leave all the things we gain from our simple play ideas out but rest assured some sort of learning and skill practice is always going on. Oh, cooking soup is also a life lesson for the kids, learning to cook.

What we did:

I set the warm water and a bit of food coloring in it out on the table. I added the pumpkins and spoons. They came in and started adding pom poms and pipe cleaners. Mixing and stirring. They couldn’t wait to pour the bottles of water into the soup. They added the spices (These were my good cooking spices so I limited the amount of spice they added) but it did have a great pumpkin scent.

They made me soup and then they played for a little while on their own with me watching through the widow(seen behind them). I love feeding the baby or washing dishes and watching them play together. And of course sometimes fight together as they are siblings.

I have a few more pictures than I usually do and they really show what we did without words.

adding water

Adding spice

more spices

And last but not least the book that started it all. We read this book again before bed that night and they said they really had fun making soup. We have done a few other book inspired activities and they always seem to be a big hit.

We hope you and your kids can enjoy a little pumpkin soup too. Check back next week too see if we find another fun, fall themed sensory table to share with you.

More Sensory Table Post:

Apple Scented Sensory Play:

Apple Scented Sensory Play- Fall Sensory Table

Pumpkin Spice Clean Mud:

Sweet Potato “ooey gooey” Goop:

Corn Sensory Table For Hands On Play

Fall Scented Ice Cream Dough

Pumpkin Soup

Bird Seed- Fall Sensory Table

This post contains links for your convenience and we could possibly make money from them. Thanks for your support. See my disclosure here.

About The Author

Jaime

Hi! I am Jaime, mama to three high energy boys. With three boys, life never slows down, but I wouldn't have it any other way! We love creating, learning, and crafting together and we can turn anything into an adventure.