Halloween's over so use your pumpkin!

Trick or treaters have gone and your pumpkin should be getting a little soft. Before it starts to grow hair and turn colors (a great science experiment) put it to use as long as you can!

Try This:

1. Use your pumpkin for wood working by letting your child hammer golf tees into the pumpkin with a wooden play dough hammer. Put the pumpkin in a tub or bin to contain it from rolling and let him go. This is great for building fine motor and eye/hand coordination. Start this project with children 3 years and older. Boys and girls alike love this activity.

2. Cut different hand-sized shapes out of your pumpkin and put them in a bowl. Have your child match them up, put them in the appropriate hole and make a pumpkin puzzle. A variation to this activity is to use the cut pumpkin shapes to paint with. Just dip the pumpkin shapes into paint or pudding and press on paper.

3. If you have a small pumpkin, use it for corn bowling. Partially fill six 2 liter bottles with unpopped popcorn or deer corn to weight the bottles. Set them up in a triangle as bowling pins. Stand back and roll the small pumpkin to knock down the pins. FUN!!!!!

Keep reading for more pumpkin activities.

*Pictures from http://www.hummingbirded.com/pumpkins.htm