Every Spring, we plant pumpkins in our garden. By the time Fall rolls around, the ground is criss-crossed with miles of pumpkin vines and lots of just-turned-orange pumpkins hiding under the pumpkin plant leaves.
This year, our pumpkin crop turned out a couple dozen pumpkins that were just the right size for the kids to carry around. The weather was sunny and mild, just right for spending the day outside. I gathered our art supplies and invited the neighborhood kids over for an impromptu pumpkin painting party in my front yard. Everyone picked out a pumpkin, picked up a paintbrush, and got busy.
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How to host your own pumpkin painting party. It’s easy – trust me.
All you really need are pumpkins and a few simple art supplies, including:
- Acrylic paints (in a variety of colors)
- Paintbrushes and/or Foam brushes
- Paper cups, plates and/or bowls
- Glitter
Just a note about the glitter. The paint has to be wet when you sprinkle on the glitter, otherwise the glitter won’t stick. The glitter painted pumpkins turned out really sparkly and pretty.
We used paper bowls as our paint palettes. I squeezed a little bit of paint into everyone’s bowl and added more paint and different colors as needed. The cups were filled with water in case someone needed to wash their paintbrush.
By some miracle, nobody got paint on their clothing, which was a good thing because I totally forgot to make them wear an artist’s smock or apron to protect their clothes. I’ll probably try to remember to do that next time.
The kids had a fun time painting pumpkins. I had a fun time watching them being creative and taking pictures. Everyone got to take their pumpkins home with them, of course. My kids used their painted pumpkins to decorate our front porch steps. I think pumpkin painting parties are going to become a new Fall tradition for us!
What are your favorite fall crafts for kids? Share your fall art activities for kids and families with us in the comments.
Shannon Kadlec says
I tried to post a post halloween picture of the pumpkin project my girls and I did, but it didn’t work. So instead, I will just tell you what I did….
I used some black flat paint that I had leftover from a few other projects and painted a big square on the pumpkin. My kids and I were able to chalk different messages and designs on it every couple of days….it was great!
Nicole says
Hi Shannon, Thank you for telling me about your pumpkin project. That sounds like such a fun idea for the kids. I bet they will remember it, and want to do it again next year! I appreciate your taking the time to stop by and leave a comment. Great to hear from you! 🙂 –Nicole
Donna @ Modern on Monticello says
My kids and I did this a few years while they were younger. They always loved it too. #HomeMattersParty
sahana says
What a fun and simple activity for kids. Kids look so involved in the activity. #HomeMattersParty
Nicole says
My kids look forward to pumpkin painting every year. Any excuse to get messy and have fun. LOL Last year we did handprint pumpkins. 🙂 They want to do minion pumpkins this year. Thanks for stopping by!