The Cutest Pumpkin-Carving Ideas for Kids

Playful eyes and uniquely shaped gourds turn this year's pumpkins into easy-to-make silly monsters any kid will love. Our free pattern download and pumpkin-carving how-to make carving these smiling pumpkins a breeze.

Give your seal of approval to Halloween this year with a thumbs-up emoji pumpkin stencil. This positive pumpkin decoration is sure to get a few thumbs up of its own.

Generate your kids' enthusiasm by choosing silly combinations and cute pumpkin-carving ideas. Here, a sweetly sneaky cat and a small friendly mouse take the stage in this animal pumpkin-carving scene. Our pumpkin stencils make carving with kids easy. Use black felt to create cat ears, and glue or pin them above the eyes. To make the whiskers, use a gouging tool.

This adorable Halloween pumpkin decoration is crafted with colored papers and just a bit of carving—perfect for pumpkin-carving with kids who are a bit younger.

Once the face is carved, cut the ears and wings from cardstock. Glue together the outer and inner ear cutouts and the outer and inner wing cutouts. Glue wings to black cardstock; cut out, leaving an 1/8-inch black border all around. Fold and clip ears and wings as noted on the patterns. Attach them to the pumpkin with straight pins.

Middle school-age kids will love these easy pumpkin-carving ideas. Transfer the stencils onto uncarved pumpkins and scrape away the surrounding areas using a gouging tool. Use the pumpkins to line a walkway, or decorate your steps for Halloween.

This adorable kid's pumpkin carving project starts with a carvable faux pumpkin. Create the barnyard scene by painting the pumpkin red and carving a barn door opening. Fill the pumpkin with mini gourds decorated to look like farm animals. We used cut felt pieces to make the faces.

Minimal carving means these adorable owl pumpkins are perfect if your pumpkin-carving session includes younger kiddos. These charming owls come together with just a bit of carving, glue, and sunflower seeds. This cute pumpkin-carving idea looks great on orange pumpkins, too!

With just a few easy steps, you can turn your pumpkin into a clever mouse-themed display! To create this pumpkin carving idea for kids, cut circles into a real or faux pumpkin to resemble swiss cheese. Fill some of the holes with faux plastic mice.

Buy It: Plastic Rats, ($2, Oriental Trading)

Use this easy pumpkin-carving for kids idea to create a likeness of your favorite feline. Pipe cleaner whiskers, crafts-foam ears, and a pretty bow make this carved pumpkin kitty a surefire kid favorite. Simply download the free pattern and carve out this feline's face before adhering her whiskers, ears, and bow with hot glue.

Buy It: Kid Made Modern 75ct Rainbow Fuzzy Sticks, ($3, Target)

There's something to be said for funny pumpkin-carving ideas that play up classic jack-o'-lantern features and techniques. This sweetly smiling pumpkin offers an expressive face that promises to turn on the smiles. Get our pumpkin-carving pattern to make the face just right.

Hoppy Halloween! This kid pumpkin carving idea starts with a coat of green crafts paint. Cut a wide mouth and glue on small white gourds for eyes. Cut legs from paper and hot glue them to the back of the funny pumpkin. If you’re looking for pumpkin-carving ideas for kids who are a little younger, let them help with the tracing and decorating while the bigger kids assist with the surface carving.

Put together this silly pup pumpkin decoration with your dog-loving kids. Carve a silly grin, paint the mouth and nose black, and paint on a brown face. Use wire hangers to attach white gourds painted with brown circles as eyes and green gourds for ears. Cut a tongue from the part of the pumpkin you removed for carving the mouth, then paint it red and place it inside the mouth.

Keep kid-friendly pumpkin carving simple by using an apple corer. (While it’s not as sharp as a knife, kids should still proceed with adult supervision.) Punch out a funny smile of circles and use the punched-out plugs for more pumpkin decorations, such as for the nose or pupils.

If you’re looking for pumpkin-carving ideas for kids who are a little more advanced, try pumpkin stencils with a little more detail but still completely achievable, like this wistful grinning jack-o’-lantern.

Kids who love all furry creatures will have loads of fun with animal pumpkin-carving stencils like this adorable raccoon.

Related: Our Best Woodland Creature Pumpkin Patterns

Pumpkin carving with kids and animal pumpkin-carving ideas just seem to go together. Find your favorite dog breed pumpkin stencil and put your pup’s likeness on display.