Painting pumpkins for Halloween is a great no carve option for kids. Here are some of our favorite pumpkin painting ideas for your family!
Updated September 2024
Painting with pumpkins is easy: give each child a pumpkin, some paints, paintbrushes (or just let them finger paint!) and if you’re brave, glitter!
It’s an easy way for kids of all ages to participate in decorating for Halloween. It’s also a super fun sensory activity.
Plus the painted pumpkins don’t decay the way carved pumpkins do, so you can decorate your pumpkins even earlier for Halloween decorations.
Here are some of our favorite ways to paint pumpkins!
Pumpkins Painting for Kids
Photo by Rachel Withers
1. Paint with brushes
If you want to keep things simple while painting pumpkins, you can use tempera or acrylic paint and brushes. Your kids won’t need any directions, trust us!
Photo by Rachel Withers
2. Squeeze Paint
Once you’ve tried basic painting, you’ve got to try squeeze paint! Squeeze bottles are so easy and fun for kids to use. Simply let your child squeeze paint down onto the pumpkin, letting it drip and blend with other colors.
Photo by Rachel Withers
3. Watercolors + Glitter
Another fun paint option to try is watered-down acrylic paint and glitter. You can paint or pour over the pumpkins and then while the paint is still wet, add glitter! You may want to try this project outside, as kids can get pretty liberal with the glitter!
Photo by Andrea Martelle
4. Tempera Paint Sticks
If you’re looking for a less messy option, we love using tempera paint sticks to color on pumpkins! Even the littlest kids can try this fun project.
Photo by Rachel Withers
5. Tape or Sticker Resist
Apply tape or stickers to your pumpkin and then paint it all over. Once the paint has dried, remove the tape or stickers to reveal a cool design!
The paint Jean liked to use for projects like this is BioColors paint, as it adheres to most surfaces without any cracking. We’ve used tempera paintfor painting pumpkins in the past and it works fine but does tend to crack and peel a bit after it dries.
The Artful Parent Editorial team (Rachel, Anna, Andrea, Heather) loves to gather great content and fun, fresh art activities and sensory play ideas for kids.
