Easy Pumpkin Crafts

easy pumpkin craftsWe have been talking about pumpkins around here this month and reading many Halloween books.  “Winnie’s Amazing Pumpkin” is the children’s favourite book this week.  The illustrations are very amusing and the text has a cute “Abracadabra” part that the children can join in on as you read. If you happen upon it at the library, I would recommend borrowing it for your preschoolers.

IMG_3468-resizedThe witch in the book plants a pumpkin and it grows very quickly.  The storyline was a great introduction to my Life Cycle of A Pumpkin file folder activity.  The children arranged the pictures in the proper sequence. You can make your own file folder activities with a few printed pictures.

IMG_3467-resizedWe went to the pumpkin patch to pick a pumpkin off the vine.  It was a great hands-on link to our previous book learning. Most children love learning that involves a ‘doing’ aspect! Getting muddy in the pumpkin patch was great fun.

IMG_0368-resizedWe bought a few different sizes of pumpkins including these tiny ones.  They were the perfect size for a toddler to paint.

IMG_3455-resizedHighly washable paints would be a good choice for toddlers, but your older children might be happier with acrylic paints.  The washable paints don’t stick to the pumpkins very well.

IMG_3457-resizedThis child decided to try some colour mixing on the pumpkin.

IMG_3453-resizedIt’s always interesting to see what different ages and personalities of children end up doing with their artwork.

IMG_3452-resizedYou could glue googly eyes onto your painted pumpkins and make them into creatures or leave them as colourful decorations.

IMG_3459-resizedWe used a marker to draw a face and stuck pipe cleaners into this pumpkin to turn him into a spider.  Sticking the pipe cleaners into the pumpkins was quite enjoyable for my kindergartener.

IMG_3463-resizedThis pumpkin character has a fuzzy pipe cleaner nose and fuzzy eyebrows.  A younger child might like to stick pipe cleaners into a pumpkin in their own abstract design!

Happy Pumpkin Creations!