The story behind it
By TurkeyMom · September 2012
Ages3–6 yrs
Prep10 min
Activity30 min
Leveleasy
MessLow
Works for1:1 · Small group · Class
Cut a pumpkin from orange paper or foam. Then give it a personality with egg carton eyes, masks, noses and teeth, plus googly eyes and a paper moustache. A simple preschool Halloween craft packed with cutting, gluing and coloring.
⚠️ Safety first
- Googly eyes and small egg carton pieces are choking hazards. Supervise closely, especially if younger siblings are nearby.
- Egg cartons are stiff to cut. An adult should cut the cups, mask and teeth pieces, and kids should use child-safe scissors for the paper.
- Use a clean, dry egg carton. Skip any cartons with broken-egg residue, especially if a child has an egg allergy.
Before the kids arrive
- For a group: draw (or pre-cut) pumpkin outlines on orange paper or foam sheets.
- For a group: cut the egg cartons into cups, mask strips, noses and toothy mouths so kids can choose and glue.
Steps
Draw a pumpkin with a stem on orange construction paper or a foam sheet, and cut it out.
Cut a moustache or mouth out of black or brown construction paper.
Adult: cut up the egg carton. Use the cups for eyes, the part with holes for a mask, and the rest for noses and teeth.
For a grumpy moustache pumpkin: glue on two egg carton cups as eyes and add a googly eye to each.
Glue on the paper moustache and a toothy egg carton mouth.
For a super hero pumpkin: glue the egg carton mask across the face and add paper strips as the mask band.
Put googly eyes in the mask holes, then glue on an egg carton nose and a paper mouth.
Let the glue dry and give your pumpkin a name.
Tips
- Egg carton is our friend here: we used all the parts of an egg carton. The bottoms became eyes, the holes became a mask, and the rest got cut into noses and mouths.from the author
- This craft is so simple you don't really need instructions. It's perfect for an afternoon of relaxing fun and not very time consuming.from the author
- It has all the bells and whistles for a craft-loving preschooler: cutting, gluing, coloring and generally crafting. My daughter was in heaven with access to so much glue, scissors and markers!from the author
- Great for fine motor skills and hand-eye co-ordination.from the author
Make it your own
- Give each pumpkin a character. Ours were Mr. Grumpy Moustache the Super Villain and Sandy the Super Hero.
- Use a foam sheet instead of construction paper for a sturdier pumpkin.
What readers say
💬 5 comments ✍️ 1 answered by the author
Read all 5 comments
Rebecca · Oct 2013
i love your blog so much! I think there is barely a week goes by when I don't feature something from it. I've featured this on The sunday Showcase this week:
TurkeyMomAuthor · Oct 2013 · replying to Rebecca
You are too kind Rebecca :) Thanks for all the features and I LOVE Sunday Showcase. So many pin-worthy ideas all in one place.
Stephanie @ Twodaloo · Oct 2013
Oh my goodness. This is adorable! Thanks so much for linking up to Discover & Explore this week!