Daily Idea #178: Carve a Pumpkin

I have to mentally prepare myself for this one because I hate getting messy/dirty, but I know my kids love it. So, for today’s daily idea we are getting small pumpkins, setting up a messy station, and carving pumpkins.

I’m getting the small/medium sized pumpkins (one for each of us— yes, even I am going to get my hands in the pumpkin). I am setting up a table outside with wipes and large spoons. And we’ll even be trying to save the seeds from the pumpkin to roast them, although I will have to look up how to do that.

With a sharp knife, I’ll cut a hole around the stem large enough for my hand to fit inside each pumpkin. The kids will then be in charge of getting out the guts with their spoons and shoveling them into a container (like I said, I want to try and roast the seeds later);if you don’t want to keep the insides, just toss them into a bag and throw them out.

Once their pumpkins are mainly cleaned out, have them draw a face or a design on the pumpkin. Carefully cut out the designs and you have yourself a carved pumpkin!

Some tips I learned in researching pumpkin carving:

1) The pumpkin will only last about a week once it’s carved.

2) If you want to try to prolong the life of the carved pumpkin use a 50:50 water to white vinegar mix and rinse the inside of the pumpkin once all the guts are out.

3) Choosing a pumpkin with a flat bottom is best.

4) You can cut the hole in the pumpkin on the bottom if you want to leave the stem intact.