How To “Carve” A Pumpkin With A Toddler

 

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So fall is totally growing on me. I don’t know if it’s because my boys are more cuddly as the weather gets cooler or because it stays dark longer so my lazy self gets more sleep. Well you know I’m not really lazy, I just have 2 crazy little ones to chase all day. Some call it lazy, I call it being a mom. But anywho, this is the first year that I really am enjoying fall. Maybe it’s because I have met some amazingly crafty ladies this last year who have given me great inspiration, but I also feel like fall is giving me more time to focus on crafty things. 

Some may call me crazy, but I actually would rather do crafts with my kids than by myself. What their little minds can think of and create just amazes me! Last year I was so excited to carve pumpkins for Halloween. I remember going to the pumpkin patch and walking down rows and rows of pumpkins trying to find the perfect one. Of course Rohrl found his perfect one right away; and Statham (who was 4 months at the time) could care less. But we got home and I spent the next 2 days looking up all these crafty ideas online of what we could turn our pumpkins into. 

By the time it was time to carve the pumpkins, Rohrl (who was 18 months) was more excited about running around jumping in leaf piles than carving any pumpkins. He thought it was fun playing with the “guts” though. By the time we were done dad had carved the pumpkins by himself and I had chased Rohrl all afternoon. I was a little sad that it wasn’t this grand mommy-son experience where we created this grand Disney pumpkin. 

This year I learned. Now that I have had a little more experience being a mom I am learning what my boys will and won’t sit down for. Watching Frozen for this first time, yes. Carving pumpkins, no. I could just see it my head. I would be running around chasing Statham while he is wielding the carving knife chasing Rohrl. Not something I really wanted to do. But one thing my boys, well mostly Rohrl, love to do is paint. If I have a project I am working on, or need to get dinner started. If I get out the finger paints and some paper they will sit still for at least 30 minutes and create a masterpiece. Sometimes that masterpiece ends up on the wall (isn’t that where every great artist starts their masterpieces?!) but with Crayola Washable Paints I don’t worry too much. All I have to do is take a wet wash cloth to whatever has paint on it, (walls, floors, hands, hair) and BAM! It’s clean! 

I knew when we walked past the pumpkins at the store and both boys’ eyes lit up that not carving pumpkins was not an option. So I let them each pick a small pumpkin to take home. What I made the mistake of doing was telling them they were going to paint their pumpkins, because all night long all I heard was “I paint pum-kins! I paint pum-kins NOW!” Lesson learned. The next morning, bright and early I may add, we woke up and started to paint our pumpkins. Rohrl loved it! Statham had more dropping the pumpkin in the paint bowl and painting the wall more than anything else. But it was a much more enjoyable experience than the previous year. Everyone was happy, everyone got to do something and art was created. 

 A couple of tips:

1. I had Rohrl paint on a cookie sheet for easier, quicker clean up
2. Again, for easier, quicker clean up I took their shirts off. Please don’t be offended by the photos.
3. Don’t worry about what their pumpkin looks like, let the kids have fun

You may be saying to yourself “That’s not carving pumpkins, I read this post to learn how to carve pumpkins with my two year old.” You’re absolutely right, it is not “carving” pumpkins. But guess what… there is no way to carve pumpkins with a two year old and get anything accomplished. Painting pumpkins is a much more enjoyable experience for everyone; at least it was for our family. 

The really great thing with the Crayola Washable Paints is that they clean off so easily. So you can create a new masterpiece on your pumpkins everyday! So far we have painted pumpkins twice and each time the creations get better and better! One of my favorite parts about this craft was the price tag. We already had the paint and the pumpkins were on sale for $.78/each so the whole thing cost less than $2! Can’t beat that! If you have a toddler at home don’t fret carving pumpkins this year. Head out to the store, buy some pumpkins, buy some paint and get creating!