Their little goggles clung tightly to their faces as they started hammering golf tees into the pumpkin flesh.
Honestly, they looked like those people soaring through an indoor skydiving tunnel – skin strained and smiles stretched back towards their ears.
They.
Were.
Focused.
As a busy mama, there is nothing better than seeing my kids happy and engaged with an activity.
I mean, sipping lukewarm coffee while the kids are busy?
Does life get any better?
I think not, friend.
You too can sip lukewarm coffee while your kids look like crazed people pretending to fly in a tunnel.
All you need are some golf supplies, a squash, and stickers…
I first saw hammering golf tees into pumpkins when I was a preschool teacher.
My students absolutely LOVED doing this activity.
I was in a multi-age classroom, though, so my older kids would stop feeling the thrill of this activity after a few years.
This activity is for those kids. They inspired me to come up with this fun, new twist on hammering pumpkins as I was strolling through Kmart.
Practicing Aim While Hammer Golf Tees Into Pumpkins
My toe-headed sons were hitching a ride in my cart as we strolled down the aisles in Kmart. That’s when I saw them: office supply stickers with holes in the center.
I think these stickers are used to reinforce hole punches?
*scratches head*
It doesn’t matter. Because now?
These stickers are the perfect addition to hammering golf tees with kids. They are the perfect way to encourage kids to aim and truly help to extend (or create a new challenge for) this class activity.
This post contains affiliate links to Amazon so you can easily find what we’ve used!
First things first, let’s start with what you’ll need to do this activity.
Supplies to for this Fun Twist on Hammering Pumpkins
- Pumpkins
- Golf Tees
- Hammers (although we just used our wooden blocks from Melissa and Doug. They worked great as hammers!)
- Stickers with holes <— I found a bunch of different types of Amazon!
Here’s a shot of the pack of stickers if you’d rather grab them at the store…
Okay, now onto the fun!
How to Hammer Pumpkins into Golf Tees to Practice Aim
If you’ve never tried hammering golf tees into pumpkins, you can start by letting your child practice hammering the golf tees first.
What does hammering into golf tees actually do for kids?
This simple activity works:
- Fine motor muscles
- Hand-eye-coordination
- Persistence.
It takes a bit of force to break through the skin of the pumpkin, so you may have to encourage your little one to hit it a little harder!
When they’re ready, let them start to add stickers to their pumpkin.
Then, encourage kids to aim the golf tees inside of the holes and hammer the tees.
Here are a few quick phrases to encourage little ones to try practicing their aim in the sticker holes.
I like to use open-ended questions like:
I wonder if a golf tee would fit inside those holes?”
“Tell me about these sticker holes. What do you think would fit in there?”
Why Not Just Tell Them What to do with the Stickers?
I like to ask questions like this with my kids (and students) so that they are figure out how to do the activity on their own.
This way the activity is:
- More meaningful
- Less stressful (for us too)
- And, gives our kids ownership and permission to be creative
And, what if they don’t actually hammer in the holes?
It’s all good, Momma!
Keep in mind, some kids may not want to hammer inside the holes. In fact, my older child spent most of her time designing with the stickers instead of hammering.
The point is that the kids are actively engaged because they are in charge – I promise, it’ll be WAY more fun and less stressful when we step back and let kids do it their way!
That said, I think kids who are older toddlers-preschoolers will take this activity pretty easily.
And, that is why this is one of my favorite activities to do with kids EVER.
It’s easy to set up, engaging, and FUN!
Lukewarm coffee, here we come.
More Fall Fun from Happily Ever Mom
Leave a Reply