Your nieces and nephews want to help decorate the Halloween pumpkin, but you're not to sure being around sharp caving knives is the best option. A better option for kids is pumpkin painting! In fact, each niece or nephew can have their own pumpkin to paint; that way, the activity is just as awesome as the finished product!

Here's what you'll need:

A pumpkin for each child. It's better to let them pick their own at the pumpkin farm or at the store. This will help avoid fights over which child gets which pumpkin.

Acrylic paints and brushes

A bowl of water and paper towels or rags to clean the brushes between paint colors

Pencils so that you can help outline the pumpkin before the paint goes on

Paint sealer.

Directions

First apply paint sealer to the pumpkin. This will help the paint not chip away.

Then, help your nieces and nephews stencil out what they'd like to paint on the pumpkin. They might choose to paint a scary face, Halloween candy, their favorite character, etc. They might want to draw two sides on pumpkin, scary and happy, girl and boy, or use one side to draw the back of the pumpkin head! Another idea is to have each child paint themselves as a pumpkin, adding parents and of course, their Savvy Auntie to the pumpkin family! You can also find pumpkin painting stencils online if you really get stuck for ideas.

Paint in the lines, being careful to coat the area two or three times so the paint dries opaque.

Cover with a sealer and let the pumpkins dry.

You may want to take photos of each niece or nephew with their pumpkins and begin a Halloween album or scrapbook. And if they've chosen to paint the pumpkin family, it's a perfect opportunity for a family portrait.

Happy Halloween!

Photo Credit: Mnassal