Engage your child's senses with this autumn art project. He'll create a paper pumpkin along with some scented, textured paint to add an element of sensory fun. Your child will love touching, smelling, and, of course, looking at his seasonal masterpiece.
What You Need:
- Orange and green construction paper
- Scissors
- White glue
- Water
- Pumpkin pie spice
- Paintbrush
What You Do:
- First, help your child cut out the pumpkin. Have him cut a large circle from the orange construction paper. If he needs help cutting out the right shape, you can have him trace a plate, or you can sketch out the shape and have him cut along the lines. Talk about the shape and color as he cuts. What other fruits and vegetables are shaped like a circle or are orange in color?
- Have him cut a small rectangle from the green construction paper. This will be the stem. Have him glue the green rectangle to the orange circle to create his pumpkin.
- Now it’s time to make your scented paint! Help him measure equal parts white glue and water. Encourage him to stir the two ingredients together until the mixture is smooth.
- Next, help your child open the container of pumpkin pie spice. Encourage him to sniff it. What does he smell? Allow him to liberally sprinkle the spice over the glue and water mixture and stir again.
- Now give him a paintbrush and encourage him to cover every inch of his paper pumpkin with the scented paint. When the paint dries, it'll be shiny and have a delightfully grainy texture from the added spice. And it'll even smell like pumpkin pie!
A great outing to go with this activity is a visit to your local pumpkin farm where your kid can observe the pumpkin life cycle in action. Talk to your child about the process: pumpkins start off as one little seed. The seed sprouts into a seedling. The seedling grows into a vine. Flowers blossom along the vine, and each flower becomes a little green pumpkin. As each pumpkin ripens, it becomes bigger and turns orange. While you're at the pumpkin farm, pick up a pumpkin of your own, take it home, and give your child another sensory experience by teaching him how to make pumpkin pie!
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