We carved our pumpkins we got from the pumpkin patch the other evening, and Evie definitely was into it. I wanted to wait til closer to Halloween so they would not go moldy and squishy on us. We will be bringing them over to my parents house to put outside tomorrow night. This is definitely something I hope we do every October. It’s a great way for kids to learn all about pumpkins, and even tie in facts like how you can eat the seeds inside and show them how to bake them. So many ways to let kids be hands on with this activity. I’m looking forward to Evie getting older and her being even more a part of it.
Evie was the one who actually initiated us carving the pumpkins. I had come home from work and was hoping for a nap only to have our pumpkins get plunked on top of me. I asked her if she wanted to carve them and give them a happy face and she very quickly started chanting “Pumpkin! Pumpkin! Happy!”
We still had our table covered with the dollar store plastic table cloth from our party, and boy am I glad we left that there. It made clean up very easy. I would have used news paper, but we sadly do not get any delivered to our home. If you do have news papers it’s so easy to just put the paper and the pumpkin guts into the compost.
Evie tried her best at helping to scoop out the insides of the pumpkin, but was quick to let me finish that part while she played with the seeds on the table. She watched very intently as I drew on the face and I asked her what shapes she wanted for eyes and a nose. She wanted triangle eyes, and a oval nose for both of the pumpkins. This is a great way to go over shapes with kids, especially if you get them to draw the face they want on paper first.
It must have been a little confusing at first as to why the pumpkins suddenly had holes in them, Evie kept trying to pop back in the little pieces to make her pumpkins whole again. She soon got the idea though when I asked if she wanted to see them with a light inside. We closed all the blinds and put candles inside, and remind her that they are hot and not to touch. She is very good when we tell her not to touch things.
She definitely loved seeing the pumpkins glowing, as she got very sad when we blew out the candles before it was time to get ready for bed.
How early do you carve your pumpkins? What designs did your kids go for?
I am thinking maybe next year we might carve them a little earlier just so Evie can enjoy seeing the faces a little longer. I am looking forward to her being even more a part of what our pumpkin looks like.
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[…] happily playing with the tiny little one she wanted to bring home. Evie helped out with the pumpkin carving this year, and got right into the mess of things. It was fun seeing her all dressed up in her […]