Friday 19 October 2012

Montessori Pumpkin Carving

(Goblin is 36 months)

I love carving pumpkins for Halloween but I'd been wondering how to get Goblin involved without ending up in a real life blood and guts Halloween scene. He has been pretending to drill things for about a month now. I have no idea where he picked it up from (probably Bob the Builder), but it keeps him amused for ages. He usually uses random sticks. So I decided in true Montessori style that rather than just do pretend play I would buy him his own drill. You can pick adult ones up really cheap on Amazon but I opted for a slightly more expensive one because it was smaller - specially adapted for children's hands. 
For the most part I held the pumpkin between my knees (for lack of a proper vice), but I did get a few pictures of Goblin drilling holes in the top of the baby pumpkin.
I quite liked all the little pumpkin worms that were created by the drill. I'm sure a more ingenious chef than I could make something yummy with them.
We used a big and a small drill bit so that we got a variation in size of hole. And I put a battery operated tea light in it to avoid the whole 'pumpkin burning down house' scenario. I think the final product is really beautiful.
I'm going to buy some bigger pumpkins tomorrow because Goblin's got the drilling bug and I am a bit worried about our furniture. And I had to share this funny photo with you. Our kitty was intrigued by the pumpkin.

I'm sharing this with


Montessori MondayLadybird LnFor the Kids FridayOne Artsy Mamalearning laboratory at mama smilesPhotobucketI Can Teach My Child
Serenity youhttp://salttree.net/Tuesday Totssunnydaytodaymama

16 comments:

  1. I love your photo of the pumpkin with the light shining through all the holes.

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  2. What a great idea! We had carpentry in my classroom and it was great for fine motor and practical life... But we never thought if drill-the-pumpkin!

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  3. I love this idea, the pumpkin turned out so cute and what a great way that they can be involved

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  4. The pumpkin is gorgeous and I am so impressed that he drilled it! Great idea!

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  5. Great idea! I was wondering how I could get my 3 year old involved in pumpkin carving. This might work!

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  6. It looks beautiful and I love the way you involved your son.My kids would love this,too.Now off to check the drill ;)

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  7. I want one of those drills now! And I just love how you shared a photo of your kitty. I do that sometimes with my posts. He just loves being a part of the action.

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  8. What a great idea! Thank you so much for linking up to Learning Laboratory!

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  9. This is fantastic. Great idea!

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  10. Oh, how neat!! I love it! Thank you for sharing at Sharing Saturday!!

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  11. I featured you on my blog today.Such a great activity!

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  12. This is awesome! I love the practical life idea of drilling a pumpkin, and it turned out beautifully! Thanks so much for linking up with Montessori Monday. I featured your post at the Living Montessori Now Facebook page and added your post link to my Montessori-Inspired Halloween Activities at http://livingmontessorinow.com/2012/10/16/montessori-inspired-halloween-activities/

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  13. Simple but effective and great fun to make

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  14. That's fantastic, I love that he was using a proper drill and using it well. Good work!

    Thanks for sharing.

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