Halloween fun

We had lots of fun this week decorating some mini pumpkins. I have a couple of big ones to carve as well, but think that will be one for when Felix is in bed as toddlers and sharp knives are such a poor combination.

Glitter pumpkin

Paint pumpkin liberally with PVA glue (easy for toddlers to help, but you will probably need to paint it on too to get reasonable coverage). Sprinkle/shake on glitter - I wanted to use green and purple but couldn't find it in the moving chaos, so ours is a rather festive red and gold. If you do it on a tray, it's easy to collect the glitter that falls down so it can be reused.

Paint dribble pumpkin

I used ready mixed poster paints. If I was doing it again, I would mix the paint with some PVA glue (in an old ketchup bottle so I could still squirt it), as the poster paint is cracking and peeling a bit. Literally just squirt the paint straight out of the bottle onto the top of the pumpkin, around the stalk, and let it dribble down the sides. Felix held the bottle and I "helped" him direct it. The colours intermingle in a pleasing fashion as they pool on the top of the pumpkin and run down.

Sharpie pumpkin

NB - I am fairly sure that toddlers using Sharpies is not recommended as they smell pretty vile and the lids are a choking hazard. I kept a very close eye on Felix to make sure he didn't put them in his mouth, and I didn't let him have the lids. You could use felt tips but they didn't "stick" very well. I just let him draw on the pumpkin totally freely until he lost interest.

The CoOp has lovely small pumpkins for £1 each - great size for toddler crafts.