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Pumpkin painting is a great activity to decorate pumpkins but without the mess or safety hazards that go with carving pumpkins and preschoolers. My daughter is still a little to young to do this, so I had fun doing it myself! This activity is great for eye hand coordination and grading muscle movements and muscle strength.
Items Needed for Pumpkin Painting
- Paint
- Paint brushes
- Pumpkin
- Water
- Paint Cups
- Marker
I did not have any little cups for holding the paint, so I just put the paint on some foil. I would also suggest covering your surface with either a painting sheet or paper so that the paint does not ruin your table surface. There are many ways to be creative and unique with this activity. I decided on 3 colors and to alternate them. If you decide to go this route, I have a quick tip for you.
If you have a child who would have trouble keeping the paints separate while painting the pumpkin, here is a way to give them a visual. Simply take your marker and make a black line down the lines on the pumpkin. If your pumpkin doesn’t have indented lines like mine did, then just use your judgment and make lines about the same width apart down the pumpkin. This will give them a visual as to where to keep the paint.
I ended up doing more than one coat of paint on mine. As you can see the yellow and green did not show up as well as the purple. I chose these 3 colors because they are the colors of my daughter’s room. You could choose colors that show up better on the pumpkin.
Another way to add more to this activity would be to put stickers on it afterward or sprinkle glitter on it while the paint is still wet. The possibilities are endless with this activity and lots of fun.
Skills used in Pumpkin Painting
- Eye Hand Coordination
- Grip strength (on the paintbrush)
- Hand grasp (for age appropriate hand grasp refer to my post)
If you would like to check out the other activities in my 10 Days of Fine Motor & Sensory Activities for Children series, Click Here.
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