October is almost here, so it’s time for another set of easy-to-prep busy boxes!! This set is for your pumpkins theme! I’ve got 10 busy box activities that focus on a variety of math and literacy skills, plus a fine motor freebie at the end of the post!! If you don’t use busy boxes in your classroom, no worries!! You can use these activities for busy bags, quiet time tubs, morning activities, or centers! They are very versatile! But, if you want to use them as busy boxes, each file has a matching label to put on top of the box! Here they are!

 

Pumpkins Shape Sorting

This adorable shape sorting activity doesn’t require any materials other than the printables! Just print the sorting mats & shape cards, cut & laminate them, attache the label to the top of the busy box, and you’re ready to go. If you teach younger kiddos, you might only want to use the basic shapes (square, circle, rectangle, triangle), but I’ve also included oval, star, heart, hexagon, octagon, and diamond/rhombus. (You can choose the sorting mat that matches the name you use for diamond/rhombus in your class!) You can grab this one on Teachers Pay Teachers by clicking on the image below!

 

Pumpkin Counting

This counting box is super cute and easy to prep. You can choose between ten frames with and without visual counting supports on them, so it’s easy to differentiate! All you need for this activity is some type of manipulative for your kiddos to count! Here are links to some of my favorite options:

• orange and green pom poms
• pumpkin mini erasers
• colored transparent discs
• orange and green cubes
• tongs (if you want to add a fine motor element to it!)

 

And here’s the link to the Pumpkin Counting Busy Box on TPT:

 

Play Dough Pumpkins Counting

OK… I love this busy box, because who doesn’t love play dough??? I know, I know. Not everyone loves play dough, but I DO!! This one also gives you the option of giving your kiddos visual counting supports if they need it. Plus, rolling play dough into tiny little pumpkins works those fine motor muscles, too! If you get these tiny little play dough cans, they’ll fit right into the pencil box with the play dough counting cards!

 

You can get your own set of these play dough mats in my TPT store!

 

 

Pumpkins Number Tracing

Tracing cards are a great way for your kiddos to practice their numbers, and I just adore the cute patterned pumpkins on these! Just print, cut, and laminate these cards, and they are ready to use! I will give you a helpful hint: Make sure the lamination you use is dry-erase friendly! I love to use Fellowes laminating sheets because they work great with dry erase markers. Here’s the link to grab this one in my TPT store:

 

 

Pumpkin Number Puzzles

These number puzzles are perfect for giving your kiddos opportunities to practice counting, matching sets, ans subitizing! There are puzzles for the numbers 1-10, and each puzzle has four different representations of the number.

Just print, cut, and laminate, and they are ready to use! Here’s another helpful hint: When you’re making puzzles, you definitely want to laminate BEFORE you cut so the pieces fit together like they’re supposed to. Here’s the link to this busy box in my TPT store:

 

 

Pumpkins Letter Tracing

These letter tracing cards are just as cute as the number tracing cards, and they’re just as easy to prep! Just print, cut, and laminate, and they are ready to use! Throw in a couple dry erase markers (I’m an Expo snob!), and you’ve got an instant activity for your kiddos to practice writing the letters of the alphabet! Hop over to my TPT store to grab your copy!

 

 

Pumpkins Letter Matching

These letter-matching puzzles give you three different options! You can have your kiddos match lowercase to lowercase, uppercase to uppercase, or uppercase to lowercase! And all three sets are included in the same file with a matching busy box label for each set. No extra materials needed for this one! Get your copy here:

 

 

Pumpkins Letter Sounds Matching

These cute letter sounds puzzles give your kiddos a great way to practice matching pictures to the letter they start with. (The X puzzle using ending sound pictures.) Here’s a helpful hint for these: Use colored symbols or stickers on the back of the puzzle pieces to make them self-checking. For example, draw a blue triangle on the back of all the A puzzle pieces. After your kiddos match the puzzles, they can flip over the three pieces. If all three have the same symbol, they know they’ve matched them correctly! Here’s a link to these puzzles in my TPT store:

 

 

Pumpkins Letter Punch

I love letter punch activities because they combine letter recognition with fine motor skills! Plus, preschool and kinder kiddos LOVE to use a hole punch! This one is especially cute if you copy it on different shades of orange and green paper! This particular file gives you four different options, too! If you want to get yours from my TPT store, just click here:

 

 

Pumpkins Cutting FREEBIE

This busy box is great for cutting practice!! And, it is FREE in my TPT store!! You can use the same colored paper you use for the letter punch activity to make it super cute! The cutting strips have cutting lines on them that move from easier to harder so you can easily differentiate. Here’s a piece of friendly advice though: Give your kiddos LOTS of opportunities to cut paper with no lines on it at all before you ever give them something like this to cut! If they haven’t been able to learn how to use scissors in a completely open-ended way, this activity will only cause them frustration! Grab your FREE copy here:

 

There you have it! TEN pumpkin-themed busy boxes that are super easy to prep! And, because one of my passions is creating high-quality resources that are also affordable, they are all only $1.00!! But, it gets even better! If you want all of them, you can get my Pumpkins Busy Box Bundle and save a ton of money!! Just click below to get your set!

 

If you love  busy boxes as much as I do, you might want to also check out my Apples Busy Boxes and my Back-to-School Busy Boxes!

What are your favorite busy box activities? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!!

 

Happy Teaching!