Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Pumpkin play

There's been a lot of playing with pumpkins around here lately. Here's an invitation to play that I set up last week on the coffee table (with our autumn table in the background):

Last year around this time, the kids were really into clay, and we were using it on a daily basis. So it was a natural extension to create pumpkin-and-clay faces. This year, they remembered, and moved the pumpkins to the studio to do it again:

This year, I was super inspired by this pumpkin head we found at the pumpkin patch:

See his red-pepper mouth and gourd eyes? They're nailed on! Genius! Kids can do that, and make a very satisfying jack-o-lantern (ok, maybe not the lantern part...) all by themselves. I couldn't wait to try it. I introduced the idea to the kids yesterday by showing them the picture and asking them to look closely at how the parts were held on. Then I set up labeled baskets for eyes, noses, and mouths, and we went on a treasure hunt through the studio, looking for parts that would lend themselves to nailing. They came up with some good ones! This morning, we began assembling our pumpkin heads:

(She nailed her pieces on, but I couldn't hold the nail and take photos at the same time!)

Here are some of the kids' creations:

(by a 2-year-old, a 4-year-old, and a 3-year-old).

It turned out to be a great way to decorate a pumpkin. I'd love to know if you give it a try!

6 comments:

Jules said...

Do you take adults in your classes? Can I sign myself up? I want to wear those goggles and make pumpkin faces!

Julie said...

"Here's an invitation to play..." Love that. No wonder children feel such creativity in your presence. You truly are a "child whisperer":)

Lise said...

Jules, come on over anytime and whack away at things in the studio with us!

Julie, I learned much of what I know from you!!

Julie said...

Oh, the fun they must have had decorating those pumpkins!

Luisa said...

I'm about a week behind on blog reading so sorry I missed this. Your kids are so lucky! I'm keeping this idea for another time for the kids.

Meryl said...

Those are so great! I love that smallest one best, I think.