The Night before Halloween is our traditional pumpkin carving night. This jack-o-lantern is made from a pumpkin from the WTF gardens- The sole survivor of the twenty or so we had planted in the back cement garden. Squirrels, Chipmunks, and Stink bugs apparently like pumpkins as much as we do. To appease two kids, this jack-o-lantern actually has another face carved into the back. The kids draw their design, we carve the lid and open it up, ready for the kids to extract the goop, guts and seeds with their hands. They have a blast squishing the orange slime between their fingers and helping to pick out the seeds. Cleanup is not too bad either if you lay newsprint down. Unless you have a four year old, who thinks it's hysterical to fling it across the kitchen on a spoon, her very own mini version of a "Punkin Chunkin" trebuchet.
Here, we've washed and dried the seeds, and tomorrow, they get separated into two piles: Cooking and Planting. The cooking pile will be oven roasted, very lightly salted, and given as a gift to Grandma in a mason jar. The planting pile will be put aside, and stored for winter for planting in the new greenhouse in mid-April. Giant pumpkin seeds can be started a bit sooner if you're looking for a ribbon winner!
Above, my son creates a work of art with a wonderful sensory activity, seed art, which can be done year round with many different types of seeds. Seeds can form shapes, pictures, mosaics, etc. Let your child be the guide and see what he or she comes up with. Happy Halloween!
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