Tag Archives: jack-o-lantern

Fall Traditions: Carving Pumpkins

It was great to see so many of you at our Pumpkin Patch Host Family & Au Pair Meeting on Sunday! A treasured fall/Halloween tradition in the United States is pumpkin carving or making “jack-o’-lanterns”. Whether this is your first time decorating a pumpkin or you are a seasoned pro, these videos have a few tips and ideas you may find helpful.

How do I make it safe for the children? If you are carving a pumpkin with your host child(ren), remember to be very careful with them around sharp tools. You can purchase kid-safe pumpkin carving tools that cut without a sharp blade. If you don’t have those, let kids help with all of the tasks that don’t involve a knife such as: picking the pumpkin, scooping out the insides, choosing the design and adding any other decorative touches. You can buy or print pumpkin templates online and school aged kids can use a thumbtack to mark the pattern on the pumpkin. Here you can find a free template and instructions on how to do this.

How long do they last? Carved jack-o-lanterns begin to deteriorate after just a few days outside (depending on the weather). Temperatures over 60˚F (15˚C), rain, and freezing then thawing all make them rot more quickly. So, if you want your pumpkin to be fresh on the big night, don’t carve it more than a few days before Halloween and/or keep it in a cool place. Another way to preserve the jack-o-lantern longer is to coat the cut surfaces with petroleum jelly.

Check out Au Pair in America’s Halloween Fun Pinterest board and our Fall Bucket List for more fall traditions and activities to try.

Here is video readings of one of my favorite pumpkin stories.

Image: Jeff Kramer

Fall Traditions: Carving Pumpkins

It was great to see so many of you at our Pumpkin Patch Host Family & Au Pair Meeting on Sunday! A treasured fall/Halloween tradition in the United States is pumpkin carving or making “jack-o’-lanterns”. Whether this is your first time decorating a pumpkin or you are a seasoned pro, these videos have a few tips and ideas you may find helpful.

How do I make it safe for the children? If you are carving a pumpkin with your host child(ren), remember to be very careful with them around sharp tools. You can purchase kid-safe pumpkin carving tools that cut without a sharp blade. If you don’t have those, let kids help with all of the tasks that don’t involve a knife such as: picking the pumpkin, scooping out the insides, choosing the design and adding any other decorative touches. You can buy or print pumpkin templates online and school aged kids can use a thumbtack to mark the pattern on the pumpkin. Here you can find a free template and instructions on how to do this.

How long do they last? Carved jack-o-lanterns begin to deteriorate after just a few days outside (depending on the weather). Temperatures over 60˚F (15˚C), rain, and freezing then thawing all make them rot more quickly. So, if you want your pumpkin to be fresh on the big night, don’t carve it more than a few days before Halloween and/or keep it in a cool place. Another way to preserve the jack-o-lantern longer is to coat the cut surfaces with petroleum jelly.

Check out Au Pair in America’s Halloween Fun Pinterest board and our Fall Bucket List for more fall traditions and activities to try.

Here are video readings of two of my favorite pumpkin stories.

Image: Jeff Kramer

Fall Traditions: Carving Pumpkins

It was great to see so many of you at our Pumpkin Patch Host Family & Au Pair Meeting on Sunday! A treasured fall/Halloween tradition in the United States is pumpkin carving or making “jack-o’-lanterns”. Whether this is your first time decorating a pumpkin or you are a seasoned pro, these videos have a few tips and ideas you may find helpful.

How do I make it safe for the children? If you are carving a pumpkin with your host child(ren), remember to be very careful with them around sharp tools. You can purchase kid-safe pumpkin carving tools that cut without a sharp blade. If you don’t have those, let kids help with all of the tasks that don’t involve a knife such as: picking the pumpkin, scooping out the insides, choosing the design and adding any other decorative touches. You can buy or print pumpkin templates online and school aged kids can use a thumbtack to mark the pattern on the pumpkin. Here you can find a free template and instructions on how to do this.

How long do they last? Carved jack-o-lanterns begin to deteriorate after just a few days outside (depending on the weather). Temperatures over 60˚F (15˚C), rain, and freezing then thawing all make them rot more quickly. So, if you want your pumpkin to be fresh on the big night, don’t carve it more than a few days before Halloween and/or keep it in a cool place.

Check out Au Pair in America’s Halloween Fun Pinterest board and our Fall Bucket List for more fall traditions and activities to try.

Here are video readings of two of my favorite pumpkin stories.

Image: Jeff Kramer

Fall Traditions: Decorating Pumpkins

A treasured fall/Halloween tradition in the United States is pumpkin carving or making “jack-o’-lanterns”. Whether this is your first time decorating a pumpkin or you are a seasoned pro, these videos have a few tips and ideas you may find helpful.

How do I make it safe for the children? If you are carving a pumpkin with your host child(ren), remember to be very careful with them around sharp tools. You can purchase kid-safe pumpkin carving tools that cut without a sharp blade. If you don’t have those, let kids help with all of the tasks that don’t involve a knife such as: picking the pumpkin, scooping out the insides, choosing the design and adding any other decorative touches. You can buy or print pumpkin templates online and school aged kids can use a thumbtack to mark the pattern on the pumpkin. Here you can find a free template and instructions on how to do this.

How long do they last? Carved jack-o-lanterns begin to deteriorate after just a few days outside (depending on the weather). Temperatures over 60˚F (15˚C), rain, and freezing then thawing all make them rot more quickly. So, if you want your pumpkin to be fresh on the big night, don’t carve it more than a few days before Halloween and/or keep it in a cool place.

Check out Au Pair in America’s Halloween Fun Pinterest board and our Fall Bucket List for more fall traditions and activities to try.

Here are video readings of two of my favorite pumpkin stories.

Image: Jeff Kramer

Fall Traditions: Decorating Pumpkins

A treasured fall/Halloween tradition in the United States is pumpkin carving or making “jack-o’-lanterns”. Whether this is your first time decorating a pumpkin or you are a seasoned pro, these videos have a few tips and ideas you may find helpful.

Safety note: If you are carving a pumpkin with the children, remember to be very careful with kids and sharp tools. You can purchase kid-safe pumpkin carving tools that cut without a sharp blade. If you don’t have those, let kids help with all of the tasks that don’t involve a knife such as: picking the pumpkin, scooping out the insides, choosing the design and adding any other decorative touches.

We will be having a Cluster Pumpkin Decorating Contest. To be entered, be sure to share pics of your fabulous creations on our Facebook/ WhatsApp group. Winner will be announced on Monday, November 2.

Find more fun on the APIA Fall Holidays Pinterest board.

Here are video readings of two of my favorite pumpkin stories.

Image: Jeff Kramer

Halloween Pumpkin Basics

A carved or decorated pumpkin is called a jack-o-lantern.  If you are carving your pumpkin, I recommend that you wait until no more than a week before Halloween, so it will be fresh for the big day. If you are doing this with your host kids, be very careful with the sharp objects.

When you remove the insides of the pumpkin there will be lots of seeds. Did you know you can roast those for a healthy snack? Here’s a recipe for Roasted Pumpkin Seeds.

If you want to avoid the mess and sharp objects, check out the second video for some non-carving jack-o-lanterns.

If you want your pumpkin art to last forever, you may purchase artificial pumpkins at craft stores like Michaels and AC Moore. Those can be carved and painted, just like the real thing.

Find more Halloween activities and recipes on the APIA Halloween Fun Pinterest board.

Photo: Jeff Cramer

How to Carve a Pumpkin

Here is a video explaining how to carve a pumpkin (as well as some non-carving alternatives.) A pumpkin carved like this is called a jack-o-lantern. I recommend that you wait until just a few days before Halloween to carve your pumpkin, so it will be fresh for the big day.

Find more Halloween activities and recipes on the APIA Halloween Fun Pinterest board.

 

 

Photo: Jeff Cramer

Carving Pumpkins

pumpkinWith our Annual Pumpkin Patch Cluster Meeting coming up this weekend, I thought it might be helpful to show how to carve a pumpkin for au pairs who will be attempting this for the first time. Here is a video explaining how to carve a pumpkin (as well as some non-carving alternatives.) If you get a pumpkin at our pumpkin patch cluster meeting, I don’t recommend carving it until the week before Halloween, so it will stay looking fresh for big day.

Find more fun on the APIA Halloween Fun Pinterest board.

Photo: Jeff Kramer

Pumpkin Carving

5144853167_b06931ebcf_nHere is a video explaining how to carve a pumpkin (as well as some non-carving alternatives.) If you got a pumpkin at our pumpkin patch cluster meeting, I don’t recommend carving it yet. It would be better to wait until next weekend (10/26-27) if you want it to stay fresh for Halloween.

Find more fun Halloween & Fall Tips on the APIA Pinterest board.