Summer Boost
Activity:
Make a Crazy Halloween Pumpkin
Make a Halloween pumpkin this October! A lot of kids are too young to carve a pumpkin, but that doesn't mean they have to miss out on making a Jack-o'-lantern. This Halloween pumpkin craft is a silly activity that's a safer version of pumpkin carving. Using a small pumpkin and some fun materials, kids can bring their pumpkins to life. Toothpicks can act as arms, glued-on buttons as eyes, cotton balls can be wacky hair, and clothes can be made of felt! Encourage your kids to write some spooky Halloween stories about their Halloween pumpkin characters. Or, they might even want to act their stories out using their pumpkins on stage!
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What You Need:
- A small pumpkin
- Toothpicks
- Cotton balls
- Felt
- Buttons
- Pipe cleaners
- Glue
What You Do:
- Tell your child that he will turn his small pumpkin into his very own crazy pumpkin character! Show his all the art materials and how he can use them. For example, demonstrate how the toothpicks can serve as arms, how the cotton balls can act as hair or clothing, how buttons make eyes, how the pipe cleaner can represent a mouth and how the felt can be used to create an outfit. Your child might even have his very own ideas of how to creatively use some other materials, such as dried pasta, clay or even glitter. The possibilities are endless!
- Now it’s time for you child to name his pumpkin and give it a backstory! Can he write a spooky Halloween story with his crazy pumpkin as the main character. If other kids have been involved in this activity, encourage the entire group to make up a play with their characters and put on their very own crazy character pumpkin show for the neighborhood kids!
- Finally, put your child’s Jack-o-Lantern on display on the porch, in the kitchen window, or the entryway of your home—any place that will scare ghost and goblins away!
