Kid Decorated Pumpkins

Kids just LOVE to be a part of decorating for Halloween, but some of the Halloween Traditions, like carving a pumpkin aren’t 100% safe for young children. Yes, there are “child safe” knives out there, but pumpkins are very HARD and therefore difficult for young children to cut.

What can you do to get your child involved in pumpkin carving and Halloween decorating? Here is a list of idea:

• Stick up Halloween Window clings
• Draw Halloween pictures and signs and hang them up
• Help scoop out the seeds of a pumpkin
• Sort the seeds out of the pumpkin “gunk” (this is a GREAT fine motor activity)
• Decorate their own pumpkins

Children may not be able to carve, but they certainly can decorate!
They can:

• Paint a pumpkin (you can even add a wee bit of glitter to the paint to make it extra festive!
• Make a Mr. Potato Head Pumpkin
• Make a Light Brite pumpkin (see below for how to)
• Draw on a pumpkin with a washable maker, wipe it off and draw again

There is such thing as Pumpkin Light Brite, keep your eyes peeled for it, because it is a worth while investment. BUT if you don’t have the real thing (they are just longer and bigger than traditional Light Brite Pegs, you can still do it!

When scooping out the inside of the pumpkin, take a sharper spoon and make the skin as thin as you can without destroying the integrity of the pumpkin.

An adult takes a hammer and a sharp nail and makes the design for the Jack-O-Lantern (let your child draw their design or tell you what shapes they want etc. so that they feel a part of this).

A child takes a child-sized hammer and hammers in the Light Brite pegs and…….VOILA:

Toy Clearance Sale at chapters.indigo.ca. Shop now to prepare for the holidays!