Pumpkin Decorating Play Dough Craft Activity for Preschoolers

Use orange playdough and a pumpkin cookie cutter for an easy way to decorate pumpkins with toddlers and preschoolers.

Do your children go crazy over pumpkins this time of year like mine? My daughter loves going to the pumpkin patch and seeing pumpkins appear on our neighbor’s doorsteps in the days leading up to October 31 on our daily walks. She also loves decorating pumpkins, but not the way you might think. Here’s an easy way for children of all ages to decorate a pumpkin! You might also enjoy making ghost crafts and decorations.

Carving pumpkins for Halloween is challenging and can be unsafe and dangerous for kids, especially young children such as toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarteners. So, I created an easier way for toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarteners to decorate pumpkins to make it easier for young children like my daughter to enjoy this traditional, classic Halloween activity. Invite your kids to decorate play dough pumpkins for a fun Halloween activity at home or in the classroom with the instructions below. You might also enjoy this list of Halloween art projects, crafts, and painting ideas.

Easy Pumpkin Decorating Activity Idea for Toddlers and Preschoolers:

Since carving pumpkins can be challenging for toddlers and preschoolers, I have devised a much easier alternative for young children to participate in this classic Halloween activity. You might also enjoy visiting a pumpkin patch for an educational field trip, a homeschool activity, or a fun family adventure this autumn.

Several play dough Halloween pumpkin crafts decorated by toddlers and preschoolers

I created this pumpkin-decorating craft tutorial for toddlers and preschoolers with my three-year-old daughter. I first wrote this post in October 2015 for Pre-K Pages, and I didn’t want my regular readers to miss out, so I thought I would share it with you as well.

The complete step-by-step craft tutorial for this fun Halloween activity for toddlers is on Pre-K Pages, but I share a few simple tips below to help you get started right away. Encourage preschoolers and kindergarteners to decorate pumpkins for Halloween with this fun arts and crafts activity for young kids. You might also enjoy making Halloween ghosts and cute creepy crawly spider crafts.

How to Decorate Play Dough Pumpkins:

The directions for this Halloween craft activity for toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarteners are simple:

Use a pumpkin cookie cutter to cut out orange or any other Play-Doh color.
- Use the pumpkin cookie cutter to prepare cut-out play dough pumpkins beforehand, or invite the kids to do it themselves for an excellent hand-strengthening activity.
Put a bowl of pony beads on the table alongside the cut-out play-dough pumpkins (or next to the play-dough and pumpkin cookie cutters) and invite children who can handle these small parts safely to decorate them for a fun Halloween activity.

Halloween pumpkins made of play dough and decorated with pony beads by toddlers and preschoolers for Halloween

Pumpkin Decorating Idea for Toddlers: Make and Decorate Play-Dough Pumpkins for Halloween!

Learn everything you need to know, and set up this invitation to decorate play dough pumpkins with the step-by-step instructions on Pre-K Pages. Use THIS link to see and read all the fun DIY details for this simple Halloween activity for toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarteners! You will learn everything you need, alternatives you can use, and how to set it all up. See you when you get back. 🙂