We’ve all seen and loved traditional carved pumpkins for Halloween with their wild faces and flickering lights but they are not particularly kiddy friendly are they? Pumpkin skins are far too hard for children to carve safely and then there’s the candle light inside too, although battery operated tea lights can help with this.
My boys really wanted a traditional looking pumpkin again for Halloween this year but I really wanted to challenge them with something they could do independently too. We put our thinking caps on and came up with this wax resist pumpkin carving alternative. It worked a treat and got the kiddies exploring an art technique we’d not done for a while too. So it was a win, win!
How To Make A Pumpkin Carving Alternative – Wax Resist Pumpkin
Supplies For Wax Resist Pumpkin Painting
- Pumpkin
- White Candle
- Black water based paint.
- Brush
How To Use Wax Resist Painting on Pumpkins
- Use the candle to draw your features onto the pumpkin. You need to press quite firmly to get a good covering of wax.
- Simply paint the pumpkin and allow to dry. The paint can’t stick to the wax and runs straight off leaving the lovely orange of the pumpkin showing through.
How Simple Is That?
Top Tip For Wax Resist Pumpkin Painting…
It is a bit tricky to see where you’ve drawn with the wax so I let my children experiment with the technique and finalising their design on some pumpkin shaped card I’d cut out first. These would make great little decorations or Halloween party invites too.
Here’s some Autumn books you might enjoy… (affiliate links)
More Painting Ideas You Might Like:
Katie Pinch says
October 17, 2014 at 11:05 pmHi Emma, I am always a fan of pumpkin decorating activities that don’t involve sharp objects! Great idea!!! -pinned and shared :)-Katie @ALittlePinchofPerfect
Becka says
September 29, 2014 at 9:10 pmI love this idea! 🙂 Looks great and would make a great spooky decoration!
Elaine Livingstone says
November 4, 2013 at 8:55 amwhat a great idea, one I would never have thought of, great for those of us not artistic enough to do carving as well.
Emma "My Little 3 and Me" Smith says
November 5, 2013 at 3:13 pmThanks Elaine. It is a great way to go free form with a pumpkin too; I think random marks and patterns and a selection of paint colours can look really great too.
Robyn Fischer says
October 17, 2013 at 2:04 pmLove this idea! Very cute for older kids to make a face.
You might try spraying the pumpkin with a sealant to keep the paint
from peeling afterwards. It helps keep the paint on the pumpkin
especially if they are kept outside!
Emma "My Little 3 and Me" Smith says
October 17, 2013 at 2:07 pmThat’s a great idea for outdoors Robyn. Thanks for sharing.
new pyjama mummy says
October 16, 2013 at 10:51 pmlovely idea – I had to carve last year – so hopefully this idea will work for us both and work really well too. thank you xx
Emma "My Little 3 and Me" Smith says
October 16, 2013 at 11:01 pmThanks New Pyjama Mummy. I hope your little one likes it. We have painted and glittered some pumpkins too which she might enjoy. Blog post coming soon…not enough hours in the day! x