We love carving pumpkins for Halloween in my family. We actually have a little contest every year. Now that Hunter is a little bigger, I want to include him in on the pumpkin decorating. Of course carving is out so I started looking into other ways he could decorate pumpkins. Here are a few toddler friendly decorating ideas we tried this year:
Free Painting
Not mess free but definitely fun! Hunter asks to paint all the time lately so we decided to paint one of our pumpkins this week. I can't ever pass up an opportunity to make something a lesson and these paints are great for talking about colors. I line them up next to him so he can ask for the color that he wants or if he doesn't know a certain color, it's a perfect chance to work on it. I also like to give him different paint brushes to choose from. Toddlers love choices! I've read it makes them feel in control. I also find that it makes the activity last longer because when he is done with one brush, he will try another. Here is a link to these paints: Crayola Washable Paint
Jack-O-Lantern Stickers Easy and mess free! Our toddlers love stickers so this is a fun way for them to decorate the pumpkins. It requires no prep and no clean up so that's always nice. Like I said before, I am always in teaching mode so these stickers are great for talking about body parts. When they put on the eyes, you can ask them where their eyes are. This was even great for the baby. My sister got these stickers for the boys. Here is a link to the set she bought: Jack-O-Lantern Stickers
Painting with Tape
Cut out jack-o-lantern eyes, nose and mouth. Tape them onto the pumpkin before sitting your toddler down if you have an impatient toddler like me. Once the tape is on, you can have them paint all over the pumpkin (including over the painters tape). Encourage them to really cover this area with paint. Once they are done, let the paint dry a little. Then you can peel the tape off and the painted pumpkin will have a jack-o-lantern face! I thought this came out so cute!
Happy Decorating!
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