Get ready to turn your pumpkin into a masterpiece with the Drip Painted Pumpkins activity! This activity was way more fun then we could have ever expected and not as messy. And the results were amazing1 One of the best pumpkin crafts we have ever done!
Whether you have a real pumpkin from the pumpkin patch or a trusty fake pumpkin, this activity will have your child engaged in a world of color and artistic exploration. So, gather your supplies, roll up your sleeves, and let’s dive into a pumpkin-painting adventure that’s fun, educational, and easy on the clean-up!
Materials You’ll Need
- Real or fake pumpkins
- Washable or acrylic paint in various colors
- Newspaper or cardboard to contain the mess
Tips for Success
- Prepare Your Workspace: Lay down newspaper or cardboard to catch any paint drips and splatters. This will make clean-up a breeze.
- Choose the Right Paint: If you want to reuse your pumpkin or minimize mess, opt for washable paint. However, if you want a lasting decoration, acrylic paint is the way to go.
Skills Learned During This Activity
- Fine Motor Skills: Dripping and splattering paint requires control and coordination, helping to develop fine motor skills.
- Creativity: This activity allows children to explore their artistic side, experimenting with colors and patterns.
- Sensory Exploration: The sensation of paint dripping and splattering can be a sensory-rich experience for kids, engaging their tactile senses.
- Color Mixing: Kids can learn about color mixing as they see how different paint colors blend and interact on the pumpkin’s surface.
How to Make Drip Painted Pumpkins
Now, let’s dive into the steps for the Paint Drip Pumpkin activity:
- Prepare Your Pumpkin: Whether real or fake, make sure your pumpkin is clean and dry before you begin. If it’s real, wipe it down to remove any dirt or debris.
- Choose Your Colors: Select a few paint colors that you want to use. Remember you can use washable paint or acrylic paint. You can go for a traditional Halloween theme with purple, black, and green, or let your child’s imagination run wild with a rainbow of colors. (that’s what we did!)
- Start Dripping: You can squeeze the paint directly from the bottle or you can dilute the paint with a very small amount of water and use a plastic spoon to drizzle it over the pumpkin. Encourage your child to experiment with different patterns and designs. You cantrip small dots of paint on the top of the pumpkin or drizzle paint all around the top and watch it drip down. If you’re using acrylic paint, you can drizzle it on the top of the pumpkin’s surface.
- Watch the Magic Happen: As the paint drips down the sides of the pumpkin, watch how it creates unique and beautiful patterns. This is where the real artistic magic happens! Drip paint all over, its fun to drip paint on top of each other so we the colours flow together.
- Let It Dry: Allow the paint to dry completely. For washable paint, you can wash it off and start again for a new design. For acrylic paint, your pumpkin masterpiece is here to stay.
- Display Your Creation: Once the paint is dry, proudly display your Paint Drip Pumpkin as a festive and colorful addition to your fall decor.
Whether you choose to make it a yearly tradition with a fake pumpkin or experiment with different designs on real pumpkins using washable paint, the Paint Drip Pumpkin activity is a fantastic way to celebrate the season with creativity and artistry. So, grab your paints and let your pumpkin be your canvas for a colorful autumn adventure!
Age Suitability
This activity is good for toddlers aged children 3 years old and up with adult assistance.
Mess Level
The mess level for this activity is low.
Difficulty to Create
Easy.
Toddler and Preschooler Curriculums, Books & TV Show!
Play2Learn Toddler & Preschool Programs for Curious Toddlers
There is no limit to your toddler’s energy and curiosity. That energy and curiosity although a joy can be challenging at times. Their interest in just about everything around them is what makes them great learners. One and two year olds can soak up so much just from their senses!
But as a teacher or parent that thirst for learning can be exhausting. That is why I created this toddler and preschooler program. To help you get the most out of this time with your curious toddler without having to come up with creative ways to play and interact with them.
Play2Learn for Toddlers includes 20 Units for toddlers. Each 2-week toddler unit has 20 super easy to set up and engaging activities for toddlers 18 months to 3 years.
Play2Learn Preschool which includes 20 Units for preschoolers. Each 2-week preschoolers unit has 20 unique and easy to set up and engaging activities for preschoolers 3 years to 5 years. That’s over 800 learning activities for your toddler and preschooler at your fingertips! So many ideas you and your child will never be bored again!
These toddler and preschool lesson plans and activities will definitely keep you and your toddler and preschooler busy playing and learning!
Click here for more information: Play2Learn
Designed for toddlers 18 months and up.
Book: Exciting Sensory Bins for Curious Kids
Did you know I wrote a book of sensory bins? Click here for more information Exciting Sensory Bin for Curious Kids. Or grab your copy at Amazon.
Boring afternoons are made exciting with awesome animal-based bins, like Salty Shark Bay or Yarn Farm. Pretend play bins like Birthday Cake Sensory Play or Bubble Tea Party encourage creativity and imagination. And your kids will have so much fun they won’t even know they’re getting smarter with STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) activities like Sink or Float Soup, Magnetic Letter Hunt or Ice Cream Scoop and Count.
Designed for toddlers 18 months and up.
Book: Super STEAM Activity Book for Kids
Learning all about science, technology, engineering, art, and math sets kids up for scholastic success―and it can be so much fun! Watch kids enjoy building STEAM skills as they color friendly fish, help water find its way to tree roots, solve math problems with mazes, and more.
Find out more and grab your copy here.
Designed for preschoolers 3 years old and up.
Book: Big Book of Riddles for Kids
Riddle me this: What’s an exciting way to practice critical thinking while having a blast? The Big Riddle Book for Kids, of course! From hilarious puns to tough brain teasers, kids can build problem-solving skills with hundreds of riddles tha. t show them how to think outside the box.
- 350 riddles for kids—Have hours of fun with riddles, puns and jokes, and math and logic puzzles that’ll get their wheels turning!
- Level up their skills—Riddles get trickier as kids progress through the book, challenging them as they get better at solving puzzles!
- Double-check their work—Kids can check their answers in the back of the book with a handy answer key.
Help children expand their minds while having fun with this puzzle book for kids!
Designed for kids ages 6 years old and up.
TV Show: Curious Crafting
I’m so excited to share my crafting TV show Curious Crafting which launched in July 2022 on TVOkids and TVOkids YouTube! Season 2 aired in August 2023! My show was also nominated in 2023 for Best Live Action Preschool Series by the Youth Media Alliance Awards of Excellence.
Curious Crafting Season 1 is also now airing in Australia on ABC! Watch it here!
Set in the ultimate crafting space, Curious Crafting is a short form pre-school age series about the joy of making crafts. I lead a rotating cast of adorable little preschoolers (including my own) making magic out of common household objects.
In each episode we transform recycled items into magical crafts like a milk carton school bus, paper bag puppet or cotton pad turtle. The crafters learn and laugh their way through each activity while demonstrating what their young imaginations can create.
Curious Crafting shares the adventure and joy of making art with takeaway lessons for creating crafts at home.
This show designed for toddlers and preschoolers 2.5 years old and up.
The Best Sensory Play Kits for Kids
Play is at the core of learning during the early years and it can take many forms. One of the most important of these is sensory play because it engages all of a child’s senses (taste, touch, smell, sight and hearing) and has a enoumous positive impact on brain development.
Our Sensory Play Kits are some fun and easy ways to keep your child engaged while at the same time using sensory play to nurture their mind!
Shop our ready made play kits here.
Designed for preschoolers 3 years old and up.
Drip Painted Pumpkin
Materials
- Real or fake pumpkins
- Washable or acrylic paint in various colors
- Newspaper or cardboard to contain the mess
Instructions
- Whether real or fake, make sure your pumpkin is clean and dry before you begin. If it's real, wipe it down to remove any dirt or debris.
- Select a few paint colors that you want to use. Remember you can use washable paint or acrylic paint. You can go for a traditional Halloween theme with purple, black, and green, or let your child's imagination run wild with a rainbow of colors. (that's what we did!)
- You can squeeze the paint directly from the bottle or you can dilute the paint with a very small amount of water and use a plastic spoon to drizzle it over the pumpkin. Encourage your child to experiment with different patterns and designs. You cantrip small dots of paint on the top of the pumpkin or drizzle paint all around the top and watch it drip down. If you're using acrylic paint, you can drizzle it on the top of the pumpkin's surface.
- As the paint drips down the sides of the pumpkin, watch how it creates unique and beautiful patterns. This is where the real artistic magic happens!
- Drip paint all over, its fun to drip paint on top of each other so we the colours flow together.
- Allow the paint to dry completely. For washable paint, you can wash it off and start again for a new design. For acrylic paint, your pumpkin masterpiece is here to stay.
- Once the paint is dry, proudly display your Paint Drip Pumpkin as a festive and colorful addition to your fall decor.
WILL YOU SET UP THIS DRIP PAINTED PUMPKINS ACTIVITY ? PIN IT FOR LATER!
