Welcome to day 21 of 31 Awesome Days of Fall Activities With Your Kids.  Today I’m going to show you an Easy Peasy Pumpkin Carving Tutorial For Kids. I had not planned on carving pumpkins this year, because I thought my daughter was too young for it.  It actually takes a good amount of strength, plus I was nervous about all of the sharp objects.  But, she really wanted to do it, so we did.  Even though I did most of the work, she had a lot of fun and was really proud of her creations.

What your Kids will learn from this activity

• sensory play
• fine motor skills
• creativity

Supplies

• Kid safe pumpkin carving kit
• pumpkins
• table cover/tablecloth

Instructions

• Clean your pumpkin with soap and water, then let air dry or towel dry.  We have pumpkins from our own garden, they are cooking pumpkins, so they don’t get as large as some of the pumpkins you buy from the store to carve.

• Cut a hole around the stem.  I try to make mine as large as possible, it makes it easier to pull the guts out.  You can cut out a shape other than a circle also.  If your kids are big enough let them cut out the hole.  Scrape the seeds and guts from the lid.  Make it smooth and clean.

• Pull out all the guts and seeds from the inside of the pumpkin.  You can clean the seeds and roast them in the oven later.  My daughter thought pulling the stringy guts out of her pumpkin was gross.  I always try to thin the side of the pumpkin that I plan to carve the face on.  This will make it easier to cut out, especially if you are doing smaller details.

• Draw your pumpkin face on the pumpkin, or trace from a stencil.  My daughter created drawings all by herself.  She was so proud.

• Next, use the cutting tool to carve the pumpkin face.  I did this part.  I let my daughter try, but she struggled quite a bit with this part.

• Carved pumpkins usually rot quickly, so I decided to try a new little trick to preserve it.  I smeared petroleum jelly on the inside and around the carved edges.  This is supposed to keep it from rotting.

• Here are our creations.  My daughter loved doing the activity.  Of course, her dad and I did most of the hard part.

Conclusion

Do you plan on carving pumpkins for Halloween?  Do you free hand, or use a pattern?  We would love to hear from you.

Don’t forget to check out the rest of our series.  Click the image below.

 

 

Check out our Pumpkin Volcano Video

Halloween Costumes