Author of Pumpkin Day for Boo and Belle (Paraclete Press, 2025) Laura Sassi is here to share a special blog post about encouraging littles to grow friendships. Paraclete Press is offering to give a copy of Pumpkin Day for Boo and Belle to one reader who comments below on this blog (US only). Be sure to read to the end for details and comment on this post. Thank you, Laura and Paraclete Press!

Now, let’s hear about 5 ways to foster friendship with pumpkins. Welcome, Laura!

Five Ways to Foster Friendship with Pumpkins

Children love the pumpkin patch setting of my newest book, Pumpkin Day for Boo and Belle, because we all love pumpkins! And since celebrating friendship (despite misunderstandings) is a central theme in the story, I thought it would be fun to share five ideas for fostering friendship with our kids using pumpkins! I hope they spark even more ideas for celebrating friendship, pumpkins, and thankfulness.

1. Take a field trip to a pumpkin patch with your child and a friend or group of friends. Explore the pumpkin patch together. Look for the tallest, plumpest, biggest pumpkin, etc. Count all the pumpkins you see in a row. Maybe even enjoy a cup of cider or water while sitting on pumpkins! Afterwards, give thanks together for special friends and special days like this.

2. With parental supervision, using fresh or canned pumpkin, have your child and a friend bake a pumpkin treat to eat…together! Have the children take turns as they stir, mix, pour, etc. When the treat is ready to eat, cut a slice for each friend to enjoy. Before taking that first nibble be sure give thanks, once again, for the wonderful gift of friendship and good food.

3. Ahead of time, get a pumpkin for your child and each friend. Then, set up a painting station outside and paint some pumpkins! (Alternatively, carve the pumpkins—but this is harder for our littlest friends.) As the children enjoy each other’s pumpkin-y creations, encourage them to let each other know that they appreciate their friendship.

4. Have your child and a friend gather a few of their favorite stuffed animals, then have a pumpkin-themed story time! Check my guest post at Read, Discuss, Do for some of my favorite fall picture books that include pumpkins. Do you think my newest book Pumpkin Day for Boo and Belle is on the list? Yes!

5. Organize a pumpkin-themed “act of kindness” for your child and a friend to participate in together.  This could be something as simple as baking a pumpkin treat (see idea #2) and then delivering it to a neighbor in need. Other ideas might include making cards that feature a pumpkin (and a short hand-written note of encouragement) to mail to shut-ins, for example, or others going through a hard time.

Wow, great ideas! Thank you, Laura! I love that you shared ideas for fostering friendships that were based on pumpkins. It’s the perfect time of year for pumpkin fun. In fact, today I had to harvest my pumpkin patch. There were SO many pumpkins (over 100!). I bet some of them would work just right with your ideas. I am thankful for God blessing our pumpkin crop this year!

Friends, Pumpkin Day for Boo and Belle is an adorable book about friendship. To get your name in the hat for a chance to win a copy, make sure to leave a comment below. Maybe you can share something you enjoy doing with pumpkins and friends, or maybe you have another idea of a fun activity littles can do with pumpkins and friends. Do share! We love ideas AND littles!

A winner will be chosen in one week, Monday, October 20.

Thank you, Laura, for being our guest today! Congratulations on your newest book!