Pumpkin Painting - FALL Fun Fair Idea!

Paper Plates with the child's name to find later!

Pumpkins on Paper Plates Drying in the Sun!

PUMPKIN PAINTING ACTIVITY - SETUP & DIRECTIONS

Short Carnival Savers video/gif shows small hands painting pumpkins.

Supplies for Pumpkin Painting:

Tiny or Mini Round Pumpkins for Painting (best to purchase wholesale)
Water Based Non-Toxic Paints* and dozens of brushes (See Important Notes Below)
Cups for Water and paints
White Paper Plates (enough for each child) and marker for kids to add their names
4 (or more) Long Tables - Needed for painting and drying pumpkins
Plastic Tablecloths and Tablecloth Clips to keep breezes from blowing tablecloths onto wet pumpkins
Dozens of old T-shirts or Paint Smocks for kids to keep clothes unstained

Pumpkin Painting Setup:

This painting activity is simple to set up do as a DIY fall festival booth.

The paint for the pumpkins can be an issue! First, washable paint is typically thin and almost transparent, which is not ideal when painting pumpkins!

We tried the washable paint, and it did not do a good job - it was translucent so the designs did not show up well.

A better choice is high-quality tempera paint or acrylic paint (non-toxic, of course), and have old (large adult) t-shirts or smocks for the kids to protect their clothing.
(images of pumpkins above used tempera paint)

Before your event, you can test out your paint on a pumpkin and see how it does. It is also nice if it dries reasonably - so be sure to choose water-based paint!

The biggest challenge is reducing the mini pumpkins' cost, as they can cost $1 - $2 each or more!
Shop around online and even ask your local grocery store if you pre-ordered what the best price they would offer you would be.

Activity Setup:

The setup is easy for this booth. You will set out 2 sets of tables - one for the painters and one set for the drying.

It is great to have a few volunteers to assist kids with adding their names to the paper plates and helping to make sure enough colors of paint are available for young artists!

Additional Hints & Tips:

This is a fun fall activity for kids and gives them something to bring home and decorate their special space with a unique fall decor!

Because the cost can be high to purchase the pumpkins, and of course, they cannot be stored for other events, you may wish to wait on this funfair activity if your budget is tight or if this is one of your first years and you are not sure about your attendance!

Another activity that you could consider is Sand Art - and we have Fall Sand Art that is not date sensitive (like fresh pumpkins) and generally costs less per child than pumpkin painting!