Black Sharpie Pumpkin Designs

AJ was very excited about his first field trip with the kindergarten class at Miller's Farm.  Although he slept in a bit that morning, he was very keen to jump into his morning clothes, splash pants, rain jacket, and rubber boots all by himself. I did convince him to eat breakfast in the car without the mittens.  They took a tractor ride to the pumpkin patch, to choose their own gourd and pumpkin off the vine to take home. He chose a one-pounder about the size of small football; too small to carve but just the right size to do a black sharpie design.



Angry Bird Pumpkin source

He wanted something scary (but I think he meant scary but cute) so I told him I would think of something overnight. It would be nice to involve him with choosing the design, but I don't quite trust a four year old with a permanent black sharpie... those are off limits!


What can you do with a sharpie?



Ghoulish Face source

Scary Cute Face source

While searching for a cutesy scary pumpkin face, I found this neat craft and felt idea, like a new take on Mr Potato Head with pumpkin faces.


Pumpkin Face Game source



Origins
The kids are going to ask me why there has to be a face on the pumpkin and why there is a candle inside. I can explain that Halloween is a tradition of Celtic origin that used to be a scary and frightening time of year.  But it's changed quite a bit over the years, and in North America especially, the kids dress up in costumes and have lots of fun. They definitely know about trick or treating! AJ wants to dress up as a fruit or vegetable he says, most likely a Banana. (Really? Why not Spiderman or Batman?)  Maggie would like to be a Ballerina Fairy, and Lincoln will probably dress up warm in an Elephant suit and hand out candy with me.

But why the Jack o Lantern? The Irish children used to carve vegetables like turnips and potatoes with a light inside. The story goes, a naughty little thief named Jack who was so wicked that neither God nor the Devil wanted him. He was just a poor wandering lost soul looking for a place to rest, and the only warmth he could find was the comfort of a candle lit in a hollow turnip.  My kids are familiar with the terminology of God, Devil, sin, soul, forgiveness and even death, and skeletons in the grave and bugs and mold...

I'll post a picture of what we come up with tomorrow, but here's something neat I heard of before,  a man who decorated his white mustang with a fancy black sharpie design.  Here's a project masterpiece but there is no room for any mistakes on this perfect canvas of a fine car.



Black Sharpie Mustang source