FOAM FACED PUMPKINS – ALTERNATIVE TO PUMPKIN CARVING AND KNIFE FREE

We learned our first year back in Arizona that we can not carve our pumpkins as early as we could in Utah or they get incredibly gross! We haven’t even had much luck when we paint them a few weeks early. Carving pumpkins is also my husband’s tradition with the kiddos and with his work schedule last year, we simply did not have time for him to sit with the kids to carve. So, I came up with this alternative to pumpkin carving that still let the kiddos get creative and the they ended up really liking it!

What You Need:

Sheets of foam in multiple colors
Push Pins – any type work great, but the large colored end ones, where easiest to use because they did not go through the foam as easy
Scissors
Markers for tracing/sketching
Any extra supplies desired to decorate like cardboard, tulle, paper, etc.

Directions:

Step 1: Layout desired supplies and explain to the kiddos they can create any face they want. It took my kiddos a few minutes to figure out what/how we were going to do this, but once they understood they got pretty creative.

Step 2: Sketch and cut desired look. We staretd with the face and then they moved to hats and hair. Doing a face alone is just fine, but I bet your kiddo will also want to start filling all empty spaces!

Step 3: Use pins to apply the foam face parts. We found it easiest when they left a small gap when applying them (don’t push the pin ALL the way to the pumpkin. The gap keeps the foam from slipping past the pin…see the left pin on the left?)