What’s Inside My Pumpkin?

 

I love carving pumpkins. Since we are not in the States this Halloween chances are pretty good that we will NOT be carving a pumpkin although you can buy them here.  So what is the next best thing? Creating your own pumpkin and carving it if you like!

Materials

• white poster board
• white yarn
• cereal box
• yellow, orange and white paints
• Elmer’s glue
• scissors
• pencil
• paintbrushes
• paint cups

Directions

Take the poster board and fold it in half. Trace or draw a pumpkin with one edge of the pumpkin along the fold.

Cut the pumpkin out, but do not cut the part of the pumpkin along the fold.

The pumpkin should look like this when open.

Prepare the orange and yellow paint and have your child paint one side of the set of pumpkins. Set to dry.

While the pumpkins are drying, cut the white yarn into small pieces (about 2-4 inches). This yarn will be the brains or fibrous strands.  Cut out seeds from the cereal box.

Mix some white paint with orange to make a light orange color for the inside of the pumpkin. I also mixed some yellow and white for my kids to use.  Add some glue to each color to help the strands and seeds stick.

Once the pumpkins are dry. Have your child paint the other side of the pumpkin with the light colors.  Be sure they use a good amount since it will be the glue to hold the seeds and fibrous strands to the pumpkin. Then have them add the strands and the seeds to create the inside of the pumpkin.

Cut a stem from the cereal box and add it to the pumpkin.

Now you have a pumpkin that you can open and see what is inside!

Try This Too

Use labels to name the parts of the pumpkin. You can glue them in place, or leave them off and use it as a center or puzzle-like activity. Click here for the anatomy of a pumpkin.

“Carve” the pumpkin. Cut out eyes, a nose and a mouth.  Place yellow cellophane or tissue paper behind the holes to look like candlelight.

Want More Pumpkin/Holiday/Fall Ideas?

• Boy Mama: From Green to Gold: Creating Fall Leaves
• Boy Mama: Making Indian Corn
• Teacher Mama: Halloween Candy Graphing
• Boy Mama: The Sneakiest Halloween Costume Around
• Teacher Mama: Fall Finger Plays (Apples and Pumpkins)
• Boy Mama: Pumpkin, Pumpkin: Stick and Rhyme
• Boy Mama: Simple But Festive: A Halloween Gathering

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