One of my favorite October traditions is pumpkin painting! We take our annual trip to the pumpkin patch and the next day, we paint our pumpkins! It is such a fun and easy activity and the kids get to be more creatively involved than they do with pumpkin carving.

Full Disclosure: This activity is an event for the whole family. Big brother is painting and decorating his pumpkin also, but for the purpose of this blog post, I am only showing the Little One.

For this activity, you will need:

• A pumpkin
• Washable, Non-Toxic Tempera paint (I use Crayola but any brand will do)
• Paintbrushes
• Extra decorations are optional, but I find they love to use them: googly eyes and stickers are my kiddos' faves!

Note: I find it is a must to dress your kiddos in clothes you don't mind throwing away after or converting to play clothes only. Even though the paint is washable, I find it still stains.

After I have set the table and redirected his paint brush to the pumpkin rather than his body, I just let him go to town!

He likes to experiment with using the end tip of the paint brushes.

Building that fine motor grip!

He painted the stickers as well. Nobody seemed to mind so I let him redesign to his liking.

He even added a couple of stickers to his pumpkin. They immediately got a makeover, of course.

He decided to add a little flare to his toys as well. The paint washed right off of these.

And this is why I recommend using old clothes or clothes you don't mind being ruined. Thank goodness for non-toxic paint. Notice he's taking some googly eyes for the road. Mmmmhmmm…thinks he's sly.

What's he learning? 

• Building fine motor skills
• Hand/eye coordination
• Creativity
• How to use art materials and tools

What is your favorite October activity? 

What fall traditions do you have?