Pumpkin
The tradition of carving faces into vegetables dates back to the Irish and Scottish Celts. Come the autumn as the evenings became darker they wanted to light the way to their homes for the good spirits, so they carved faces into vegetables such as turnips and squash and placed inside a light and called them Jack O’Lanterns.
When the immigrants arrived in America and found a plentiful supply of pumpkins, they soon adopted the pumpkin for carving Jack O’Lanterns. Pumpkins are also great to eat, so next Halloween cook up some pumpkin stew, soup or pie.
Nutrition
Beta-carotene gives pumpkins their orange colour, similar to carrots. This helps is an antioxidant that our body converts beta-carotene into vitamin A after eating. This is essential for healthy skin and eyes and supports and strengthens our immune system.
Shopping Guide
Why not try your hand as a farmer and harvest your choice of pumpkin directly from a pumpkin patch. This makes for a fun day out with the family too.
Storage
Pumpkins can last for 3-4 months if properly stored: keep them whole, store them upside-down (stalk-side down) in a cool place, and ideally on a piece of cardboard rather than directly on the floor. Once cut, store pumpkin wrapped or sealed tightly in the fridge for a few days.
Serving Suggestions
All parts of our beloved pumpkins are actually edible, this means you can eat the seeds, leaves, skin and flowers.
Seasonality
Buying veg in season is not only great for the planet, it can be good for your wallet, too! Seasonal veg are often cheaper and frequently taste better, so can be a better time to try with a child as the often sweeter, riper taste is more enjoyable.
Coming In:
September
At Its Best:
October - December
Engage
Here are some of our favourite ways to engage kids with pumpkins:
Arts & Crafts
Start simple with some non-food based engagement. This is especially helpful for a fussier child or those with sensitivities around food.
For pumpkins, why not try the classic – carving fun or scary faces into pumpkins as you would at Halloween? Alternatively, try drawing or painting pumpkins – perhaps you could even find some different size, shape and coloured ones to vary the drawings! It also means they are less likely to rot and go to waste – make sure to eat them within a few days.
Sensory
Sensory exploration can be a wonderful introduction to physically interacting with veg. Turn it into a positive, pressure-free experience by starting off with the golden rules of “You don’t need to try and you don’t need to like.” Reassuring a child that, while they have a chance to taste a veg, they don’t have to, and are not expected to like it if they do, can make them more happy to engage with it.
Pumpkins are great fun to explore through sight and touch. What does it look like? What colours do you see? What does it remind you of? How could you describe it? What does it feel like? Is it rough, smooth, soft, hard, bumpy?
Kids in the Kitchen
Children who help to prep and cook veg are more likely to eat it. If you feel your child is ready to help and could benefit from it, keep the stress and mess to a minimum by choosing one simple task for them to do as part of the prep, meaning they can be involved and feel like the recipe is in part ‘theirs’, but also not make the process too much longer or more complicated.
For a younger child, why not get them to scoop the seeds out of the pumpkin before you cook it, or to rub a little oil on chunks of it and sprinkle with salt before roasting?
For an older child, it could be a great opportunity to teach them some essential knife skills. Show them how to chop using the bridge and claw grips with large chunks of pumpkin to make smaller ones. Keep a close eye on them and help when needed as pumpkins can be tough to cut, so this is best for kids who already know how to chop to avoid frustration.
DOWNLOADS:
Use our Kitchen Ninja chart and videos to find simple ways for kids to help in the kitchen.
Your Food
Find your go-to meals in our family favourites section and see what veggies work best with them.
Find out how to add more veg to your suppers here.
Recipes
If You Like Pumpkin…Try
Does your child enjoy pumpkin? That’s great! Pumpkin is usually soft and sweet, so why not try a similar texture and/or taste…
Serving
The moments before food is offered can be a perfect opportunity for engagement that can help make it more likely a child will eat it!
The first thing to do is remove the pressure. If the veg doesn’t get eaten, it’s not the end of the world. There will be other days, other dinners, other chances. Fun is key here – try not to worry about mess, perfect table manners, or playing with food. Instead, focus on making the process of getting the food to the plates, readying the table, and the actual eating relaxed.
The best principles for success here are the Three Rs (role modelling, rewarding, re-offering) which you can read about here.
But there is one more way you can serve for success, and that is giving your child a role. You don’t have to do this every time, just encourage them in their strengths through it when you can.
Here are some of our favourite ideas:
Design a menu
Come up with a silly name or story for a dish
Help with making a meal plan and choosing veg for dinners or snacks
Help to serve up the meal on dishes, lay the table or create a centrepiece to be involved in the physical ‘serving up’ process.
The Wonderful World of Veg
Check out our vegepedia. When to buy in-season. How to store them to keep for longer. How to engage children with each veg, and simple ideas of how to prepare and cook them for maximum taste and minimum waste. Select a veg…