Halloween is really all about pumpkins and kids love pumpkins. But the safety issues that surround carving a pumpkin at Halloween do not always mix well with young children. To add some Halloween pumpkin fun for your younger kids you can have them try some of these fun Halloween pumpkin projects. They will still be able to have all the excitement of the buildup to Halloween in a much safer way. Best of all these crafts are easy to do and fairly inexpensive making them great choices for a Halloween party at home or in the classroom. Here is some Halloween pumpkin projects kids will love- Jack O lantern pouch craft-You can hang this pumpkin on your wall and use it to hold candy, hair elastics, notes or any small items. What you will need:
- It is important to keep in mind that there are several ways to do this project.
- Paper plate (whatever size) and 1/2 of the same size paper plate
- Orange paint, or
- Orange construction paper or
- Orange tissue paper
- Black paint, or
- Black construction paper, or
- Black marker
Instructions for the project: Start by cutting one of the plates in half and staple it to the whole plate to form a pouch or you can use a hole punch in both plates and let your child “sew” the pouch together with string, wool, lace or ribbon. Paint your paper plate orange or glue orange construction/tissue paper onto it (you can rip 1 inch squares of construction/tissue paper and glue them on with a mixture of 1/2 water and 1/2 regular children’s white glue.) You can print out a template for the face or cut out pumpkin face pieces from the black construction paper. Either way after the pieces are finished glue them onto the front of the pumpkin. If you do not want to bother with this simply have the child draw or paint the eyes, mouth and nose with black marker or paint. Pumpkin Sock Craft-This clever craft make a darling pumpkin your child will love! What you will need:
- Orange paint
- Green paint
- Black construction paper
- Scissors
- Glue
- Paint brushes (medium size)
- Stuffing for sock (cotton balls, fiberfill or even crumpled paper will work)
- Rubber bands or green yarn/string
Instructions for the project: The first step is to stuff the foot of the sock with your choice of stuffing material and tie off where foot and tube part meet with rubber band or green yarn/string. The next step is to paint the entire foot of sock (area below the tied off area- this becomes the pumpkin) orange and allow to dry before continuing. While you are waiting for paint to dry cut shapes for jack-o-lantern face from black construction paper. Remember that you can do standard triangles eyes and nose with mouth or let your imagination run wild! For the next step paint the top of the sock (remaining white of sock) green-this is your pumpkins stem. Allow to dry completely and trim to desired stem length. The final step is to Take the black paper face pieces and glue them onto the sock to create your sock jack-o-lantern! Stuffed Pumpkin Finger paint craft-Even the youngest crafters can make this project. You can add a Halloween jack-o’-lantern face with black paint, marker or black construction paper. What you will need:
- Paper
- Scissors
- Stapler
- Finger paint (in orange and green)
- Cotton balls or shredded newspaper
If you want to hang the craft when finished a short piece of string, wool or ribbon Instructions for the project: Have the child draw two pumpkins freehand but make them the same size. Do not cut out yet. Let the kid’s paint the pumpkins with finger paints or a brush and tempera paint Allow to dry completely. Cut out the pumpkins (adults will need to help with this for very young children). Staple all the way around the edge of the pumpkins leaving a small opening at the top. Stuff the pumpkins with shredded paper (kids age 3+ love to help with this step). Finish stapling the pumpkins closed. Staple a short piece of string to the top to hang from the ceiling
