10 easy pumpkin painting ideas for kids

Let's face it, not everyone likes the feel of pumpkin guts do they? Painting pumpkins instead of carving them is a fun and easy alternative for kids. Painting Halloween pumpkins is the perfect autumnal activity without the mess and stress of carving.

Plus, painting pumpkins is a fun alternative for children who have eczema that can be aggravated by pumpkin innards when scooping them out.

We've gathered our favourite pumpkin painting ideas for kids to inspire you and your little ones this Halloween. Some of these projects involve fingerpainting or splattering techniques, which can be messy, so make sure you cover your work surfaces and don't wear your best clothes!

While it's wonderful to work with real pumpkins, they won't last forever and will need to be thrown away at the end of the season. Why not use artificial pumpkins instead? That way you get to reuse them year after year. 

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10 fiendishly fun pumpkin painting ideas for kids

1. Halloween splatter pumpkins

These pumpkins are a great last minute decoration for Halloween. All you need is red paint to create a gory splattered blood effect that'll spook any trick-or-treaters at your front door.

Children will love doing the splattering but it will be messy! This craft is best done outside on covered surfaces. 

Make Halloween splattered pumpkins with Maplewood Road.

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2. Brightly coloured pumpkins

This easy craft is ideal for toddlers who are learning how to hold a paintbrush and develop their fine motor skills. 

The brighter the colours of paint, the more vibrant your pumpkins will look! Why not add glitter, beads and felt shapes, too?

Try this kid’s pumpkin painting idea with Glued To My Crafts.

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3. Monster pumpkins

This tutorial shows your children how to turn their pumpkins into a host of spooky creatures including a vampire, a witch and a ghost. 

White pumpkins are recommended for this craft as they'll be easier to paint over than orange, and you'll need a variety of brushes, including fine ones for the facial details.  

Easy kid’s pumpkin painting idea courtesy of Aubre Originals.

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4. Party pumpkins

These pumpkins look like they're ready to party, don't they?! These little dudes are perfect quirky decor for a Halloween party.

Have fun playing with different colour combos for the pumpkins and hats. The kids will love painting the spooky faces.

Try this pumpkin painting idea for kids with Handmade Charlotte.

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5. Cacti pumpkins

Finger painting is a fun and tactile craft for young children to learn, and works so well on pumpkins!

We love the tiny cacti design for this pumpkin. Your child can simply stamp three green vertical thumbprints (some solo, some stacked in twos or threes) on the pumpkin, then a grown up can add black spikey details and colourful flowers on top.

Make cacti pumpkins with Handmade Charlotte.

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6. Snow cone pumpkins

Here's a quirky decor idea for a children's party! Get the kids to paint the red, orange, yellow, green, and blue stripes on the pumpkins, then a grown up can spray them with an adhesive and sprinkle with clear glitter for a sugar effect!

You'll need sand for filling the snow cone paper holders otherwise the pumpkins will crush the cups.

This kid’s pumpkin painting idea is from Country Living.

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7. Batty painted mini pumpkins

This project is a great way of using up leftover paint and makes a fun Halloween decoration for your porch. You could even give them away as surprise Halloween gifts.

The tutorial for this craft comes with printable templates for the bat shapes so your children can make them easy-peasy. 

Make this pumpkin painting idea for kids using The Paper Mama’s tutorial.

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8. Spooky fingerprint pumpkins

Another fun fingerprint project for children, this time using orange pumpkins and white paint for making ghoulish ghosts, eyeballs and skulls.

Younger kids may need a little help from an older sibling or grown up with some of the finer details.

This pumpkin painting idea for kids is from Handmade Charlotte.

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9. Handprint Halloween pumpkin

With this craft you can make a spider on one side of your pumpkin and a ghost on the other, simply using your child's handprint.

Use non-toxic paint and easy-grip brushes for young hands to paint the finer details. And googly eyes are always handy for spooky faces!

Try this pumpkin painting idea with Fun Handprint Art.

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10. Halloween stencilled pumpkins

With this set of six stencils you can easily paint spooky scenes on your mini pumpkins, including a bat, a cat in witch's hat, a skull and a spider. 

As well as pumpkins, try using the scary stencils on jam jars, to make tea-light holders, on a trick or treat bucket or even on your window!

Use these Halloween stencils from Thorndown to paint your pumpkins.

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Have fun with these pumpkin painting ideas for kids

Let the kids unleash their creativity with our pumpkin painting ideas for kids. Give them a variety of colours, sparkles and beads for decorating and watch their imaginations go wild!

Discover more pumpkin painting ideas with Gathered 

For more no-mess ideas, check out our easy pumpkin painting ideas here on Gathered. There are 43 designs to choose from!