This year we let R(4) carve his pumpkin. This was a huge first! Didn't his turn out cute!?
We had cleaned out our pumpkins the night before for our pumpkin guts sensory bin. Lately R's attention span has been somewhat poor and I was worried about how far he'd get into this project. He has been so full of energy this past week. It's been extra hard for him to sit still. I think the pumpkins being previously cleaned out helped. He started by drawing the face, and he immediately knew exactly which face he'd like his jack-o-lantern to have. He wanted a sleepy face!
Next, I had him poke holes over his design. I thought it would make the cutting easier for him. He did such a good job and followed the lines very carefully.
Then he got to carve! We showed him how to hold his pumpkin and the carving tool while keeping all fingers away from the blade. At first he just sawed back and forth without applying pressure to move the tool along the lines he had made, but he eventually got the hang of it. He tried really hard and was very careful while using the tools. I'm proud of him and how capable he is. I do want to say that he still didn't finish his carving. He did a good bit, but ultimately I finished his design for him. I'm sure next year will be even better.
I also thought I'd share the pumpkins my husband and I carved. I'm somewhat disappointed in mine because I had grand plans, but my attention span was awful and I grew tired of it. I wonder where R gets it?! Haha.
This is Kevin's. It's a design from a book series he loves and is currently reading (again). Extra points to whoever is dorky cool enough to know which series!
And this is mine. It is suppose to be a haunted house. Does it look like the door is open and the light is streaming out? That's what I was going for. Professional pumpkin carving is obviously not in my future, but R loved it. He said it was spooky!
At what age did your children carve their first pumpkins? Or do you have an estimated age in mind for when they might?
I've always loved pumpkin carving! I think I have done one every year since I was at least 4, but we had knives to carve with! I love the kits with the little saws. My daughter is 5 and I let her carve some, but still was a little nervous! We have 2 more pumpkins left and she wants to carve those! I Love all your jack o lanterns! I love the haunted house idea!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Melissa for stopping by and commenting. I appreciate it. I do remember having to use knives! I'm not sure I would have let R carve if he had to use a knife. Lol. I'm usually nervous about things like this, but for some reason I just kind of knew he could do it and it would be fine, and I didn't worry. I'm sure anyone that knows me in real life would doubt that. Haha. I actually talked my husband into it! The little carving tools gave me faith, I guess.
ReplyDeleteI wish that I would have saved the pieces after reading your post!! We still have one more pumpkin to carve and I'll be saving the pieces to that one.
so cool! love how they turned out! He did a fantastic job! I contemplated letting my oldest carve but she had so many intricate teeth - so daddy helped.
ReplyDeleteYours looks like a haunted house - love the open door effect!
The hubby's is fab too though I don't know the book series. Which is it? Inquiring minds want to know....
Bern
Those intricate teeth looked tricky!
ReplyDeleteMy husband's is an image from the series The Wheel of Time. It's a fantasy series.
Thank you so much for stopping by to take a look, Bern.