Little Kate and i hosted our very first playgroup yesterday. nevermind that the kids are all merely 4 years old, this is totally new to me and i was feeling intimidated! (i barely have a clue how to entertain my own little one, let alone eight of them!) however, we thought up a fun project, and the kids seemed to really enjoy making these huge pumpkins, so i thought i'd share.
SUPPLIES: Orange butcher paper, 1/8" hole punch, sticky-backed craft foam (i was hoping for glittery black, but with short notice only found gold and silver, which worked as an alternative), 2 yards black ribbon (1/8"), scrap paper (old newspaper or phonebook pages work well). OPTIONAL: spider rings
To Prepare:
Double up orange butcher paper and trim desired pumpkin shapes (about 18-24 inches large), and punch holes around the outside edges. Then cut various mouth, eye, and nose designs from craft foam, and lastly cut about 2 yards of black ribbon per pumpkin.
Have the children:
1 > Pick a face design and adhere it to a pumpkin.
2 > Lace 3/4 of the way around using the black ribbon.
3 > Crumple scrap paper and stuff the pumpkin until he is nice and fat!
4 > Lace the rest of the way and tie. As a finishing touch, attach a plastic spider to the bow.
voila, a giant pumpkin patch! Afterwords we snacked on cheese and crackers, and finished up with orange Oreos and cute pumpkin lollipops we found at Michaels. too fun!