Spellbound Squash
Create a witchy jack-o-lantern!
Submitted by
Grisel
Grisel
Order in some pizza (or toss a few toads in the cauldron), and settle down with your little Hermione for an evening of witchcraft. Have your child paint a jack-o'-lantern into an old, warty-nosed witch--no carving required. She'll have a witchin' time without all the pumpkin slime.
- Pumpkin:A head-shaped one!
- Gourd:For the witch's nose. The wartier, the better!
- Raffia or black yarn:For the witch's hair.
- Craft paint:Sickly green, black, white, red.
- Paintbrush
- A pair of large googly eyes:Find them at your local craft store.
- Black construction paper
- A thick green or orange ribbon
- Newspaper:Grab one from the stack of unread papers you've been meaning to read since the kid was born.
- Hot glue gun and glue sticks:Kids and hot glue don't mix, so make sure you do all the gluing!
- A knife:We promise—you're not carving a thing!
- Tape
- Scissors
- Staples and stapler
Take your child to the pumpkin patch and have her pick out a big, round pumpkin.
Bring it home, clean it up and lay down some newspaper to protect your work space from inevitable spills.
To begin, have your child paint the entire pumpkin and gourd green to give the witch a sickly skin tone.
When the paint has dried, help her sketch the eyes and the mouth with a pencil and then let her paint them in.
While your child watches, hot glue googly eyes into the whites of the eyes.
Next, cut off the skinny end of the gourd to create a long, warty nose and hot glue it onto the witch's face. (You should do both of these tasks, not your kid.)
Cut a few "warts" off of the gourd and have your child show you where she wants you to hot glue them onto the pumpkin.
Tape a bunch of raffia or black yarn to the top of the witch's head to give her some ratty locks. (Remind your child that that's what her hair will look like one day if she refuses to brush it!)
To make the witch a hat, draw a circle about 11 inches across on a sheet of black construction paper and cut it out. (Trace the outline of a dinner plate for a nice, neat circle.)
Next, trace and cut out another circle, about three inches larger than the first circle, and cut a slit from the edge of the second circle into the center. Have your child bend it into a cone shape and staple it shut to make the top of the hat.- Tape the cone to the brim with clear tape and tie the thick piece of ribbon around the brim to hide any tape marks. Secure it with some more clear tape.
- Stick the hat onto the pumpkin with double-sided tape and voilà, your witch has a hat!
- Help your child place the finished product onto the stoop and let her cast her spell on the neighborhood. (The witch, not your kid!)
- Witchy-poo a little too scary for your slightly sheepish kid? Nick Jr. has tips on How to Have a Happy Halloween without scaring the living daylights out of your kids.
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