Books inspire T. Falls first-grade creations

Thompson Falls Elementary first graders got in the seasonal spirit last week as they decorated pumpkins inspired by some of their favorite books.

Teachers Samantha Varner and Lindsey Franklin said 23 of the 33 first-grade students participated in the activity, which included the kids decorating pumpkins at home. There were pumpkins inspired by Hello Kitty, the Grinch and "The Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly." Varner said she was excited that no books were repeated and everyone had a unique pumpkin.

Students and staff in grades kindergarten through fourth grade voted on the most creative pumpkin, the silliest pumpkin and the best pumpkin representative of a book character. Layla Haas won the silliest pumpkin with her creation painted like a minion. She said her favorite part was painting the yellow on the pumpkin. Millie Mosher's pumpkin was voted the best representative of a book character. She painted the pigeon from the book "Don't Set the Pigeon Drive the Bus." Mosher said she used paint and cardboard for her pumpkin. The beak was attached using hot glue, but she said then she had to use a nail to secure it better.

The prize for most creative pumpkin went to Kalyn Butler. She used two pumpkins to create Edna the chicken from "Tyrannosaurus Rex vs. Edna the Very First Chicken." Butler said her favorite part of the project was cutting the eyes out of different colors of paper and gluing them together. She used paint, paper and feathers in her creation.

Students used just about anything they could find to decorate their pumpkins. An old pair of glasses helped transform a pumpkin into Harry Potter and a crown was used on a pumpkin inspired by "The Princess Encyclopedia." Students used felt, pipe cleaner, paint, cotton balls and fabric to show their creativity.

"We got more pumpkins than we expected and we will definitely do this again," Franklin said of the project.