Pumpkin Carving Ideas for Kids

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

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 easily make the whiskers, try a gouging tool.

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

For the face:

Paint the pumpkin white; let dry. Download the pumpkin stencil pattern and transfer the design onto the pumpkin. Using a knife or carving tools, cut out the eye and beak openings. Use a gouge to cut the chest feathers, going just deep enough to reveal the inner rind.

For the ears and wings:

Cut the outer ears from black cardstock and inner ears from patterned orange cardstock. Cut outer wings from patterned brown cardstock and inner wings from patterned orange cardstock. Glue the outer and inner ear cutouts together and the outer and inner wing cutouts together. Glue wings to black cardstock; cut out, leaving a 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 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.

These mummies are only a wee bit scary, making them the perfect pumpkin carving idea for kids. After prepping the pumpkins, cut slits in each: two for the eyes, wide and tall enough to accommodate marbles; one for the nose; and one for the mouth. Cut more slits around the gourd and on the edges of the lid. Place a toothpick vertically into each eye opening in the gourd and glue a marble to each toothpick.

Let your kids pick the message for these carved pumpkin decorations. Mask off the areas you want to remain unpainted, spray-paint the pumpkins black, and remove the tape to reveal your design. Draw the outlines of block letters onto your pumpkins and let your kids fill in with black crafts paint; add polka dots by carefully drilling holes with a cup drill bit. Display pumpkins at varying heights.

Minimal carving means these adorable owl pumpkins are perfect if your pumpkin carving for kids 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!

Use this pumpkin carving for kids idea to create a likeness of their favorite feline. Chenille stem 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.

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.

It's hard to say who will enjoy this trio of pumpkin decorations more: your kids when you make them or trick-or-treaters when they visit on Halloween. If you’re looking for pumpkin carving ideas for kids who are a little younger, they can help with the tracing and decorating, while bigger kids might assist with the surface carving.