Jack-o’-Lantern Resist Painting {Guest Post by The Pleasantest Thing}

I am truly excited today to share with you the first guest post on No Twiddle Twaddle. Carolyn from The Pleasantest Thing always has the most creative ideas for fun with kids and she also writes fabulous book recommendations. You should check her blog out! I know that I can’t wait to try Jack-o’-Lantern Resist Painting with my kids.

To give your child some scissor practice, you can trace the shapes onto paper and your child can cut them out. Then have your child play with the shapes on the pumpkin to create the face. When the face is ready, tape the shapes in place.

We played around with different faces, and discussed the shapes in a low-pressure, relaxed way. I would ask him which shape he wanted for the eyes, or say “where should I put this square.” I wanted him to think about the shapes, but not  feel like I was quizzing him on it.

Next we painted the pumpkins, covering the entire pumpkin with orange paint. As we painted, I asked him what color he thought would be under the shapes we taped onto the pumpkin. Then we carefully peeled back the shapes, revealing the black underneath. His favorite part was “the big reveal” when he pulled back the shapes!

Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate,

The first one said, “Oh, my it’s getting late!”

The second one said, “There are witches in the air!”

The third one said, “But we don’t care!”

The fourth one said, “Let’s run and run and run!”

The fifth one said, “I’m ready for some fun”

Oooooooh went the wind, and out (clap!) went the lights

And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.

Carolyn is the writer at The Pleasantest Thing blog, and a mom to two boys, ages 4 1/2 and 1. She believes play is critical to child development. Her blog focuses on learning and developing imagination through adventure, play, reading, and nature. You can also join in the fun by following her blog on Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter.