Pumpkin with a Purpose (Alternative to Pumpkin Carving)

I loved this idea of putting our Christian beliefs into Fall and its' celebrations.

 (ok, so maybe I'm a little warped in my desire to make Satan mad). 

 I found this project to do with Kylie here 

(I so LOVE free printables)

I had Kylie paint the pumpkin and then cut it out.  Her painting and cutting skills have REALLY improved the last few months. 

I had previously cut out the eyes, nose and mouth as their specific shapes are vital to the project and the poem. 

We then pasted the poem (that Kylie cut out) on the back of our pumpkin paper.  I don't know if you can tell, but Kylie attempted to write her name - we need some work on that one.

Here is a close up on the poem, but since you can't read it very well, here it is:
 (note: I'm not sure who actually wrote the poem.  It might have been the owner of the blog 1+1+1=1 . I want to be sure to give credit to the artist)

I am a Jack o' Lantern
My lights will shine so bright
For I'm a Christian pumpkin
My symbols tell what's right.

My nose is like the cross
On which our Savior died
To set us free from sin
We need no longer hide

My mouth is like a fish
The whole wide world to show
That Christians live in this house
And love their Savior so!

The story starts at Christmas
My eyes are like the star
That shone on baby Jesus
And wise men saw from far

My color it is orange
Just like the big bright sun
That rose on Easter Day
Along with God's own son

And so on Halloween
Let's set our pumpkins out
And tell the trick or treaters
What God's love is all about.

Here is Kylie's finished pumpkin (Kylie glued on the eyes, nose and mouth as we read the poem). 

We hung it on our refrigerator and were sure to show it to Daddy and then again to Kylie's caregivers so they could all read the poem aloud to her and reinforce the message.

Another Great resource to reinforce this message is The Pumpkin Patch Parable book.

Be sure to file all these resources away for next year and make your fall purposeful!



Pumpkin Nailing - A Fun Halloween Activity

I found this idea of pounding nails into a pumpkin here and here and wanted to give it a try.

I wasn't sure how this would go.  I had visions of a mutilated pumpkin and sticky, yucky, guck everywhere, but surprisingly it was a very neat (and fun) activity.  It was also a GREAT exercise for Kylie's fine motor muscles and fabulous for working on hand/eye coordination and visual spacing. 

I love how my wee one is "working" but SHE thinks she is playing!  That is a win-win to me!!  =0)

ok, so here are the supplies we used:

*2 inch Galvanized Roofing Nails (these have larger heads so it was an easier target for her hammer)
*Hammer (child size is best)
*Pumpkin
*Sharpy Permanent Marker

We also had Kylie start the activity by wearing her sunglasses as protective eye-wear, but we found that we didn't need them.  It probably depends on your pumpkin firmness and how animated your child is with a hammer, but we quickly ditched the glasses as there were no flying pieces or any eye danger present.

We started out by drawing a face on the pumpkin (using our permanent marker).  We asked Kylie probing questions (giving her choices) to determine how our pumpkin face would look:
*Should the pumpkin be happy or grouchy?
*Should we have Triangles or Ovals for Eyes?
*Should our nose be big or little?

Then we poked the nails into the pumpkin skin and had Kylie hammer them in.  I love how she is focusing here! 

As you can see, she was having a pretty good time!! She kind of liked pounding those nails in.

Even Daddy got in on the fun! (Tools= My man's presence)

I love how her little tongue is sticking out in concentration. 

After a while, we started to push 2-3 nails into the pumpkin at a time and then she would have a choice as to which one to pound in.  She really liked having the extra choices and it made her pound harder.  I think it drove her crazy that there were "unfinished nails"

And here is the final pumpkin!!  It's a little heavy and her arms are a little tired!!

She's so proud of her hard work!!  We love making memories with our girl!!