Pumpkin Gross Motor Activities: Free Printable Movement Game

Sometimes you need a fall activity that doesn’t involve another worksheet. And sometimes you just need everyone to move.

These pumpkin gross motor activities are an easy way to add movement to a fall or pumpkin theme without needing much equipment, setup or explanation. Print the pumpkin movement prompts, cut them apart if you want, and you’ve got a quick gross motor game you can use at home, in a classroom, during therapy or whenever kids have been sitting for longer than anyone involved would prefer.

The printable includes 12 different movement prompts on colorful pumpkins.

And no, you don’t need 12 actual pumpkins. Your grocery budget is safe.

Pumpkin Gross Motor Activities

The movements include a nice mix of jumping, balance, whole-body movement and pretend play.

Kids are prompted to do high knees, toe touches, arm circles, bear crawls, frog jumps, jumping jacks and hopping on one foot. There are also prompts to balance on one foot, march in place, pretend to swim and pretend to be a robot. One card asks them to wiggle their fingers.

You can use all 12 or choose the gross motor pumpkin activities that work for your group.

That’s particularly useful if you have kids with different mobility or support needs. A movement activity should be an invitation to participate, not a contest to see who can perform every movement exactly as pictured.

How to Play the Pumpkin Gross Motor Game

The easiest option is to print the two pages and use them as-is. Point to a pumpkin, read the direction and have everyone do the movement.

Or cut out the individual pumpkins and put them in a basket or container. Have each person choose a pumpkin and complete the movement. Keep going until you’ve used them all, set a timer for five minutes, or stop when everyone has had enough.

You can also turn it into a pumpkin gross motor game by playing Pumpkin Says.

Same idea as Simon Says, except Pumpkin is apparently in charge now.

• “Pumpkin says do five frog jumps.”
• “Pumpkin says march in place.”
• “Do ten jumping jacks.”

Anyone who moves on that last one technically missed the direction, but I wouldn’t eliminate kids from the game. Just keep playing.

Pumpkin Gross Motor Activities for Preschoolers

These work especially well as pumpkin gross motor activities for preschoolers because the directions are short and the movements are familiar.

For preschool and Pre-K, I’d demonstrate each movement rather than relying on children to read the cards. You can also skip counting altogether with some of the movements.

Instead of “do five bear crawls,” say, “Let’s bear crawl to the wall and back.”

Instead of counting arm circles, do them for a few seconds.

That also makes the activity easier to use with a mixed group where kids have different counting, reading or motor skills.

Gross Motor Activities With Pumpkins Without Actual Pumpkins

The nice thing about these gross motor activities with pumpkins is that they’re pumpkin-themed without requiring kids to lift, carry, roll or jump over actual pumpkins.

Real pumpkin activities can be fun, but they’re not always practical in a classroom. They’re heavy, they roll, and eventually one of them is going to have an unfortunate encounter with the floor.

These printable pumpkins give you the fall theme without needing any equipment.

You could use them during a pumpkin unit, before or after a pumpkin patch trip, as part of a fall classroom party or alongside pumpkin books and science activities.

Turn It Into a Gross Motor Pumpkin Hunt

Here’s another way I’d use them. Cut apart the pumpkin cards and hide them around the room.

Kids find a pumpkin and then complete the movement printed on it before looking for another one.

Now you have a gross motor pumpkin activity that adds walking, searching and visual scanning before they even get to the movement prompt.

For a classroom, you could also tape the pumpkins around the room and create movement stations. Students rotate from pumpkin to pumpkin and complete each activity.

That gives you several activities from one two-page printable without creating more work for yourself, which is always a win.

Adapting Pumpkin Themed Gross Motor Activities

Not every child is going to be able to do every movement on these cards exactly as written. That’s fine.

If a student can’t hop on one foot, choose another movement that gives them a similar challenge. A student can march while seated, move their arms instead of doing jumping jacks, balance with support, or perform a movement for a shorter amount of time.

You can also let students choose between two pumpkin cards.

Gross motor activities are supposed to get kids moving. They don’t need to become an impromptu motor skills assessment.

And if you’re using these with a child who has PT recommendations or physical restrictions, follow those rather than a pumpkin printable from the internet. Obviously.

More Ways to Use the Printable Pumpkin Gross Motor Cards

You can reuse the same cards in quite a few ways.

Try them as a quick classroom brain break, morning meeting activity, movement station, indoor recess activity or transition between lessons. Parents can keep a set at home for rainy days or those late fall afternoons when it’s already dark outside approximately 11 minutes after school lets out.

You can also laminate the cards if you plan to reuse them.

For a group, let kids take turns choosing the next pumpkin. For an individual child, spread several cards on the floor and let them choose which movement they want to do.

Choice still gets the body moving.