Friday, November 4

Fun With the Pumpkin, After Halloween


I am one of those people that love to decorate early for holidays and as soon as it is over, put it all away. It wasn't long into this week that we started using our Jack O' Lanterns for a hammering activity.



I set the golf tees and a small wooden hammer on the table outside. My daughters were very eager to start hammering.




Once the golf tees were all hammered in, we pulled them out and they went to work starting again.




Although golf tees are the easiest because of the tapered end, I found that sticks will work also, but you may want to insert them for the child first.



We also dyed pumpkin seeds using warm water, vinegar and food coloring. They sat overnight and dried the next day in the sun.



Ours were more of a tie-dyed effect- not sure why- maybe I soaked them too long before? Either way, we sorted them and they still looked very inviting.




They were glued onto paper for pictures.



Sometimes they were added to drawings.




We also strung them using a needle and thread. Stringing the seeds is best suited for an older child because of the hand strength it requires. My daughter ran out of steam and made a necklace for her doll instead of herself.

Those pumpkins have certainly provided more entertainment than just one Halloween night. Soon we'll retire the pumpkins to a chosen spot in the backyard , and just like last year, see how the changing seasons affect them.






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3 comments:

Sasha said...

Thank you for sharing these ideas! I just put out a hammering activity with clay - I wish I had thought of using the pumpkins! That is definitely in the plan for next year! :)

Valerie said...

Great ideas! Thanks for sharing on Magic Onions!

Cheryl said...

Thank you for the wonderful idea of the pumpkin with the golf tees. I am a kindergarten teacher in a Catholic school and I did this activity with my class. Oh my have they loved it!!! The pumpkin was literally covered in colorful golf tees. I was thinking of other vegetables that would work once the pumpkins are no longer any good~butternut squash maybe?