Carving Pumpkins with Kids

I don't honestly remember when the last time I carved a pumpkin was.  Last year we painted them, and the year before that... I have no clue.  I think someone carved one for us?  Going through this backtrack in our Halloween traditions sort of makes me feel like I've let my kids down thus far.  So when we got the chance to try out several pumpkin carving kits from Pumpkin Masters, I figured it was a great chance to start a pumpkin carving tradition.

 

The kits were two-part and contained the tools and paper templates.  When he saw the cat, Bear immediately knew that was the one he wanted to do.  After we got the pumpkin scooped out, he punched the holes in the template for me to cut along.  As you can see below, he had a real-life kitty helper to work on the pumpkin with. 

 

I wish I could've gotten his reaction after he inserted the plastic eyes into the finished pumpkin on film.  He was so excited! Jumping up and down! You can see the results of the kitty pumpkin complete with strobe light here. 

Bear's favorite part was the plastic eyes that came with the kids kit.  He wanted to use them to decorate a little pumpkin of his own design.  Using the template crayon that came in the kit, Bear drew a mouth and nose on his pumpkin for me to cut out.  He experimented on the sides of his pumpkin with the hole punchers and surface carvers from the other kits.  I'm usually very protective over the types of sharp items that I allow him to use, but the tools in the kits were much safer to use than a kitchen knife, so I let him have a go at it.  I love how his little pumpkin turned out!
 

Here's a little video we made while creating a Cyclops pumpkin. 

 

Have you carved your pumpkins yet?  When do you usually do it? 

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I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.