I don’t know about you, but carving pumpkins with toddlers is overwhelming. They can’t really help a lot and little hands don’t mix well with sharp objects. But I have a fun alternative to let your toddler carve their pumpkin this year! **This post may contain affiliate links. A small commission may be earned.**
One of the easiest ways to let your toddler help carve the pumpkin and actually have it look like the shape you’re intending is by using metal cookie cutters! We had so much fun creating this starry night pumpkin and my toddler really felt like she was helping.
What you need
– Pumpkin
– Carving Knife and Scraper
– Cookie Cutters (we used out mini shapes, but here are some Halloween ones)
– Soft Hammer (opt, but really helps your toddler)
- Start by carving the top off your pumpkin and gutting it like you normally would. For a lot of toddlers this is such a fun part because the insides of a pumpkin feel slimy.
- Have your toddler chose the shapes they want to use for their pumpkins.
- Push the cookie cutter into the pumpkin – this does take a lot of pressure so you’re toddler likely won’t be able to do it. I let my toddler “use” her hammer once I got the cookie cutter into the pumpkin – This really helped her to feel like she was carving the pumpkin and she was so happy to do it!
- Make sure the cookie cutter goes all the way through the pumpkin and you’ll have your shape!
- Repeat as many times as you want with whatever shapes you want.
This was so much less stressful for me and my toddler had a great time.
Check out more toddler activities to try with your little one this Halloween over on the 13 Activities of Halloween. xx Ciara
