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Every fall, I ask myself what are simple, fun, and educational pumpkin activities to do with my son. We attend fall festivals in our county and get at least 4 pumpkins annually. This year, I was looking for activities that DID NOT require me to purchase more craft supplies from the store. I wanted to use items that we had on hand.
Below is what we did and had a blast!
Paint The Pumpkin
Materials Needed
- Washable Paint
- Paint Brushes
- Pumpkin
- Newspaper/ Magazine pages or cloth
- 2 Sturdy Paper Plates
- Cup of Water
- Napkins
- Put Newspapers or cloth on table for easy clean-up
- Put water in cup to clean paint brushes.
- Put napkins in paper plate #1 to clean and dry paint brushes.
- Put small sections of various color paints on paper plate # 2.
- Place pumpkin on table with newspaper/magazine paper or cloth.
- Let your child be creative and paint the pumpkin.
Pick, Count, and Cook Pumpkin Seeds
Materials Needed
- Pumpkin cut into 4 equal parts (adults should do this)
- Bowl for seeds
- Spoon to scoop seeds out
- Cutting Board or Pan for Pumpkin
- Place pumpkin on cutting board or pan in front of child.
- Give the child a spoon and have them scoop out the seeds.
- If they are having difficulty using the spoon, have them use their hands.
- Instruct child to put seeds in bowl.
- Have the child count the seeds while scooping.
- Another option is for the child to count the seeds at the end of the activity.
- Roast the pumpkin seeds for a great snack!
Make Pumpkin Soup with Rice
Materials Needed
- Pumpkin Soup Recipe (vegan alternatives included in recipe)
- Optional – Pumpkin Soup: A Picture Book by Helen Cooper (A Great Book for Kids)
- Follow our Pumpkin Soup with Rice Recipe.
- Have fun eating it with your family!
Access Our Pumpkin Soup with Rice Recipe
at the bottom of this post!
Have a Science Lesson and Learn about Decomposition
Materials Needed (please note this activity came from Sid the Science Kid Season 1 Episode 6 called Mushy Banana)
- Pumpkin that you painted in the first activity of this post (must be decayed)
- Large Container or Large Zip lock bag
- Plastic gloves
- Magnifying glass
- Watch Sid the Science Kid Mushy Banana Episode
- Once the painted pumpkin has started to decay put it in a large plastic bag or container.
- Let the pumpkin decompose until it changes colors.
- Put plastic gloves on the child before touching pumpkin.
- Stay close to the child to ensure they don’t put the pumpkin in their mouth.
- Have the child feel the pumpkin and compare it to a fresh pumpkin.
- Have the child take a closer look by using their magnifying glass.
- Ask the child the following questions…
- How is the pumpkin different from the fresh pumpkin?
- How does it smell?
- What colors do you see?
- How does it feel?
- Put Pumpkin in the compost when complete.
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Some interesting things I never would have thought of to do with pumpkins. My kids would definitely be up for painting them.
Yes, painting is such a fun and relaxing activity. Thank you for your comment.
This is cool! I wish I read this a few weeks ago haha
Thank you for reading! You can try these ideas next year!
Lovely ideas. And a good DIY I will say. I wish I could be so creative.
Thank you for your comment! I guess it could be labeled as DIY. Thanks!
hahah! make the kids deseed and clean the pumpkins 😉 nice! i would just make sure there’s a lot of paper under their little feet. 😀
Joy at The Joyous Living
He actually wanted to take the seeds out. He had fun with it! He likes getting his hands dirty! This is not an activity for kids who don’t want to do it! LOL
I never thought about decomposting them. I will have to try that!
My son had fun with analyzing the decayed pumpkin. He made some great observations!
My chickens always get my pumpkin guts!!! Next time I’ll have to throw it in the oven!!!!
I love it!
These are great ideas and something the kids will really love. We will try to do this on our next activity, thanks for sharing!
Hello Gervin! Thank you for your comment. Please let us know how your kids like the activities!
I would love to try with my nephew.
Oh great! Let us know how it goes when you do try it!
I think just cooking – adapting cooking to kids abilities – is already a fun and educating activity for kids; also the others sounds interesting!
Thank you Sabrina for the comment. Yes cooking is such as great activity for kids. It teaches life skills and creativity.
This is look so interesting kids will be enjoyed this and a great bonding time together with family.
Hello Elizabeth! Thank you for reading. My son and I had a great time with these activities. You should definitely try it if you have pumpkins left over.
I don’t believe I’ve ever tried pumpkin soup before… I ‘ll have to give this a try ; )
the pumpkin seed idea is a good one my kids and I like!
Pumpkin soup is yummy! Let me know what you think once you try it! Thank you for your comment.
Paint and cook. Got it. My kids would surely enjoy doing both to pumpkins. But since we don’t have pumpkins, I will be buying squash instead. They’re kind of the same anyway. Good weekend activity. 😀
Thanks for the squash suggestion! Let me know how it goes. Thank you for the comment.