Talk About It: What Are the Three Sisters?

The big idea: Corn, beans and squash grow together and help each other.

Pumpkins are a kind of squash. For a very long time, many Native American peoples, including the Haudenosaunee (say it: hoe-deh-no-SHOW-nee), have planted squash together with corn and beans. They call these plants the Three Sisters, because they grow best together and help each other, like family. The tall corn gives the beans a pole to climb. The beans help make the soil healthy. And the big, wide squash leaves shade the ground so weeds can't grow.

Questions to ask

• "Pumpkins are a kind of squash. Can you find the squash in the picture?"

• "Why do you think the beans like to grow next to the corn?"

• "How do you help your brother, sister or friend?"

• "Have you ever eaten corn, beans or squash? Which one is your favorite?"

Show it in one minute

Put a piece of corn, a bean and a little pumpkin or squash on a plate. Name each sister together. Then stand up and act it out: stand tall like the corn, wrap your arms around like a climbing bean, and spread out wide on the floor like the squash leaves.

Keep it going

Cook or serve the Three Sisters together for dinner: corn, beans and squash in one bowl. In the spring, plant a few corn, bean and squash seeds in a pot or garden and watch the sisters grow together.

Want to learn more?

• The Three Sisters Diorama, from the New York State Museum

• Native Recipe: Three Sisters Salad, from the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

• Corn, Beans and Squash: What the Three Sisters Tell Us, from the Smithsonian Folklife Festival

Shop these items

Find the books and supplies from this week in one place. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

• Today's book: It's Pumpkin Day, Mouse! by Laura Numeroff

• Starter supplies: the basics we use most weeks

• See every week in our Amazon storefront

More for this week: see all our Pumpkin activities, Letter H activities and Number 8 activities.