Halloween · Pumpkins

15 Pumpkin Activities for Kids That Aren’t Just Carving

For kids too young to carve—or families who simply want to get more than one activity out of a pumpkin.

Pumpkins are craft supplies, game pieces, science objects and snacks all at once. Carving is only one option.

For activities that involve cutting a pumpkin open, adults should handle the knife and let kids take over once the messy scooping begins.

15 no-carve and beyond-carving ideas

Use washable craft paint for faces, patterns, landscapes or completely abstract pumpkins.

Cover a pumpkin with foam stickers, dots, letters or removable decals.

Use a small round pumpkin as the ball and cups or bottles as pins.

Give toddlers a bin of water, sponges and small pumpkins to scrub and rinse.

Predict which pumpkins and gourds will float, then test them in a tub.

Measure height, circumference and weight, then compare several pumpkins.

Open one pumpkin with adult help, estimate the number of seeds, then count them in groups of ten.

Rinse, season and roast seeds with adult oven help, then compare flavor combinations.

Cut a small pumpkin or potato into a stamp shape with adult help and print orange patterns on paper.

Use colorful tape to build stripes, faces and geometric designs without paint.

Wrap yarn around a small pumpkin or a cardboard pumpkin shape.

Use tiny orange and white pumpkins as game pieces on a taped grid.

Place glow bracelets or rope rings over pumpkin stems.

Stack flat mini pumpkins or pumpkin-shaped blocks and see how tall the tower can get.

Assign eyes, nose, mouth, hat and other features to dice rolls and draw the pumpkin face one part at a time.