A lot of kids, including mine, get grossed out by the goo inside the pumpkin. I don’t know a parent who has ever said, “Scraping that stringy, gooey stuff out was so much fun!” A few kids, including my brother, have been known to gag. In addition, you end up with a pumpkin that isn’t so carvable. One we picked up from the pumpkin patch has a serious soft spot on it that is a nasty mess waiting to happen. No-carve pumpkin decorating options to the rescue.
These no-carve, no-mess ways to decorate pumpkins are the way to go with kids. And because this is for kids, I had my daughter and her friend decorate the pumpkins. They may not be Pinterest-perfect Jack-o-lanterns, but they’re real.
- Felt or foam pieces
Seems basic, but this is especially good for really little ones. It can be more fun if you paint the pumpkins first, but just using black felt with adhesive on the back (available at craft stores) is easy, safe and well-suited to short attention spans. It’s also completely mess free. The kids cut these shapes out on their own and just stuck them on.
- Headbands
Walking through the craft store looking for the felt, I saw a 2 pack of headbands and thought they might fit on pumpkins. For $1.99 and a whopping 20 seconds, I had 2 decorated pumpkins.
- Glow in the Dark Puffy Paint Pumpkin
Club Chica Circle is one of my favorite craft sites and here they are coming to the rescue of those who are over scraping out the insides of the pumpkin or who want a flame-free yet illuminating pumpkin option. Their Glow in the Dark Puffy Paint Polka-dot Pumpkin will be the talk of the neighborhood.
- Mummify it!
You could use muslin fabric for this project, but we found that rolled gauze did the trick just fine. We used felt for the eyes, but I think marker straight on the pumpkin would be better. Note: I toilet paper doesn’t work. I tried. I failed.
- Ribbon and Thumb Tacks
This is similar to the tape, but for kids who are old enough to handle thumb tacks.
- Food
Halloween kicks off the eating season, which runs October through December. Why not embrace that and decorate your pumpkin with candy like Twizzlers and marshmallows
- Markers
It may not be the most original, but really, who said you had to reinvent the wheel every holiday? It’s a great chance to let kids express their creativity.
- Pom Poms
The little bags of pom poms don’t cost very much but can be a lot of fun. Spell out words, do initials or make a polka dot pumpkins. You’ve got lots of options.
Craft glue will work for smaller kids but my tween somehow knows how to handle a glue gun better than I do. She whipped this up in no time and in case you’re wondering, it says “boo” not “600.” I thought upper case would be preferable but she did not, and she was the artist.
- Glitter Glue
Admittedly, this isn’t completely mess free, but it’s still better than scraping the innards of a pumpkins. It may drip a little, but the busier the design, the less noticable it is. Alternatively, the drips could be used to create a spooky design.
You can find more no carve, no mess ways to decorate pumpkins in these articles:
14 No-Carve Pumpkin Decorating Ideas – Good Housekeeping
Trick out that pumpkin without a carving knife – Just Kidding Chicago
9 no-carve (and very chic) pumpkin ideas – Today.com (These are very Pinterest pretty)
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Interesting pumpkin facts for October fun
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