Creative Pumpkin Craft: Easy Painting and Shape Decorating
Check out this easy and fun pumpkin painting craft with shapes for young kids. In this step-by-step guide, we’ll show you the perfect way to transform a baking pan into Halloween decorations using orange paint, various shapes, and other bright colors.
As the fall season approaches, many families look forward to embracing the spirit of pumpkin season, from decorating their front porch with unique and eye-catching pumpkins to enjoying the crisp air and vibrant foliage to creating pumpkin crafts. This year, why not engage your little ones in a delightful and easy pumpkin craft that promises much fun and creativity?
Whether you want to make white pumpkins, mini pumpkins, or extra fancy craft pumpkins, these easy pumpkin painting ideas will make your home festive! So, grab your paintbrushes, paint, baking pan, and let’s dive into this exciting pumpkin craft adventure!
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Step 1: Gather Your Materials
Before you dive into this fun pumpkin craft, make sure you have all the necessary supplies on hand. You’ll need:
- Paper
- Orange paint (different shades if you want)
- Paintbrushes
- Round baking pan
- Shapes cut out from colored paper or foam (circles, triangles, squares, etc. of different sizes), we used black and green
- Paint smock or shirt
Step 2: Choose Your Paint Color
Now, it’s time to get creative with your pumpkin ideas! Let your little kids pick their favorite shades of orange paint and start covering the entire bottom of the baking pan. Encourage them to experiment with different colors and paintbrush strokes for a truly personalized touch.
You can have them paint the baking pan with a paint brush or with their hands. You can use any kind of paint, but washable paint works best because it’s easiest to wash off the baking pan.
Step 3: Cut Out Your Pumpkin and Shapes
Next, you’ll need to cut out the pumpkin once the orange paint dries. You can cut it out as a circle or as more of a pumpkin shape. Then, cut out multiple triangles, circles, half-circles, and rectangles shapes to create a face.
If your child is comfortable enough to use scissors, you can have them cut out the pumpkin and shapes on their own with your supervision. Here’s our best advice for using scissors with young kids and how to teach them to use scissors.
Step 4: Add Different Shapes
Once the base coat of paint is dry, use a glue stick to have your child put the shapes on for the face. We gave my son a few black triangles, circles, and half-circles along with a green rectangle for the stem. Then, we let him put them on his pumpkin.
Alternatively, you can use a paint pen or black paint to draw different shapes on your pumpkin. Circles for eyes, triangles for noses, and squares for mouths are classic choices, but feel free to get inventive with other shapes for a unique and playful appearance.
Fun Alternatives for This Pumpkin Painting
For a fun variation of this pumpkin painting project, try making white pumpkins! Use white paint on black paper for an easy way to create a unique look. Or use different colors or types of paint for the pumpkin like metallic paint, chalk paint, or a fun color like gold paint.
There’s also many creative ways to make your paint pumpkins unique is by adding other craft items with the shapes. Offer pom poms, stickers, or polka dots, and then you can have your child choose how to decorate their pumpkin.
You can also make different sized pumpkins with different sized pans. Switch it up by making pumpkins of all sizes! And then you can use all types of shapes if you’re using this project to learn new shapes.
Helpful Tips
First, just know right now there’s a high possibility that this will turn into finger painting, and that’s why the best paint is washable. That means your child is engaging in messy play, which is very beneficial for them (read about it here). We encourage the finger painting, but to save the project, our best advice is to have an extra piece of paper next to your project that your child can free paint on.
Another helpful hint is that when you’re adding the shapes, have a carved pumpkin, real pumpkins, or pumpkin decorations with faces for them to look at. Lots of young children may not remember what shapes make the face of the pumpkin. If you give them examples to look at they have tons of fun ideas for their own pumpkin.
With these easy steps, your toddlers and preschoolers can enjoy a memorable and creative pumpkin craft that’s perfect for the fall season. These painted pumpkins will make delightful Halloween decorations for your home. So, gather your supplies, let your little ones’ imaginations run wild, and have a blast with this entertaining pumpkin craft!
Try more fun Halloween activities!
Create the perfect Halloween themed sensory bin this year. This one is easy to put together and perfect for the fall season. Check out the full instructions here.
Check out a fun bat craft!
If you’re looking for another fun project for the Halloween season, try one of these fun and easy bat crafts. There’s something here for every craft skill level.
