A Simple Pumpkin Collage for half-term fun

Head to the recycling bin for an easy Halloween art activity

We personally prefer our Halloweens on the cute rather than creepy end of the scale - that's why we loved making this pumpkin collage!

All you need is some cardboard from your recycling box and any orange, black and green craft resources that you might have.

This simple pumpkin collage craft is ideal for pre-schoolers and is a great way to work on developing fine motor skills whilst doing something creative.

Pumpkin Collage Suggested Resources

Listed below are the items we used in our own pumpkin collage, however you don't have to follow this list exactly. Take stock of what you have in your craft and recycling boxes and see what materials you can use up in your own craft.

Sometimes, part of the joy of crafting with pre-schoolers, is using up items that you have already.

• cardboard canvas - we used an old pizza box

• orange tissue paper

• black felt / card / paper

• orange card / paper

• paint sticks / crayons in orange, green and black

• washable paints

• oil or wax crayons

• brushes

• pva glue / glue stick

• scissors

How to make this Pumpkin Collage

A little bit of preparation upfront can go along way when it comes to crafting with kids. It's always best to prepare the resources, as listed below, first, rather than scramble around trying to do everything on the go. By presenting the craft as an invitation, your child will be able to easily see all of the resources that are on offer to them.

• Cut your 'cardboard canvas' into a basic pumpkin shape - older children might like to draw the pumpkin themselves.

• Prepare the collage resources - rip tissue paper into smaller pieces and cut card/ paper into smaller shapes.

• To make a jack-o-lantern collage, cut out eye, nose and mouth shapes with the black card/ felt.

• Present resources as an 'invitation to create' so your child can put their own stamp on the activity!

Educational Benefits

The beauty of this type of craft invitation is the fact you can meet the child where they are at creatively. Rather than being a step-by-step craft, the children get to choose what to place on their pumpkin.

As you can see from the photo above, my 4 four year old son's creation looks more like a skull than a pumpkin - and this is okay! There was no pressure from me for my children to create identical crafts.

Other benefits include:

Fine motor skills development: tearing up the paper and sticking it onto the card

Creativity: deciding which materials to use and where to place them

Speech and language: learning new theme related words such as 'pumpkin' and 'Jack-o-lantern'