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Halloween

Harness the power of pumpkins with a pumpkin battery and see how many volts it can produce! This project is pretty similar to another DIY we’ve featured, the <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/diy/Science-Projects-for-Kids/3/project/Lemon-Battery/2772" target="_self">Lemon Battery.</a> Just like with the lemon, pumpkins have acidic juices inside that help transport electrical energy. Lemons are more acidic, so that’s why they’re the normal go-to for building batteries. For fall time, here’s how to do the same thing with pumpkins!

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Gather your pumpkin battery materials!

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Stick a copper strip and a zinc strip in opposite sides of each pumpkin. 

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Connect the copper strip from one pumpkin to the zinc strip in the other pumpkin with the alligator clip.

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Connect the black lead from the multimeter to the remaining zinc strip and the red lead to the remaining copper strip. 

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To see how powerful your pumpkin battery is, turn the multimeter to the V with the line above it!

V stands for volts. You should have approximately 1.5 V. If you don’t, check your connections. 

How does the pumpkin battery work?The acid in the pumpkin is still strong enough to get electricity moving. It starts by dissolving charged ions of zinc off of the zinc metal. The zinc ions leave behind extra electrons in the zinc metal, which travel over to the copper through the wire. That movement of electrons creates electricity! However, the flow would eventually stop if it only went into the copper and didn’t have anywhere else to go. The copper would get too packed with electrons. So where do the electrons go? Back into the pumpkin juice! The acid in the pumpkin also has ions of hydrogen in it, and they love to grab onto loose electrons. The hydrogen takes electrons from the copper, and the flow continues to go.

Check out our other DIY, the <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/diy/Science-Projects-for-Kids/3/project/Lemon-Battery/2772">Lemon Battery</a>, if you want to make more fruit-based batteries. What other fruits and vegetables can you use to make electricity flow? You could try a potato, an apple, a banana, or a head of lettuce!

pumpkins (2)

alligator clip

copper strips (2)

zinc strips (2)

multimeter

Pumpkin Battery

gratitude project

craft

handmade

My daughter brought home a pumpkin similar to this one from school. We loved the concept. So, as a family, we decided that we would each create a pumpkin of gratitude to explicitly recognize that we have so much to be thankful for. We are truly fortunate. This project is simple, but it turns out beautifully. I hope that we continue making pumpkins of gratitude as a tradition in years to come.Want to explore more kitchen science experiments? Explore the tastier side of learning with <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/us/store/dp/science-of-cooking-bread-butter-project-kit/5463">Science of Cooking: Bread &amp; Butter</a> from the <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/store">KiwiCo Store</a>!

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Cut strips from the orange paper. Also, cut out your pumpkin's leaves and vines.

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On each strip, write down something that you are grateful for. Make sure that you leave a little room on the ends of the strips without writing.

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Now you are ready to create the body of your pumpkin. Gather up the strips at one end and spread them evenly around the ends where they are gathered. Tape, glue, or staple them in place.

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Then, bring the strips around and gather the other ends at one point. Tape, glue, or staple them in place.

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We suggest curling your vines with scissors. Then, tape your leaves and vines onto the top of your pumpkin.

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There you have your pumpkin of gratitude. I plan to use ours on our Thanksgiving table setting, but my kids seem to have other plans. My kids noticed that they have a nice springy bounce to them when you push the tops down a bit. They are also fans of throwing and catching their pumpkins in a game of catch. So the pumpkins might not survive until Thanksgiving. I guess we will simply make more!

green paper

marker or pen

Tape

Scissors

Pumpkin of Gratitude

Halloween crafts

baking soda experiments

science experiment

chemistry

eruptions

chemical reactions

backyard science

If you have a ton of rotting pumpkins on your porch, try this to get one last use out of them before you throw them away!&nbsp;Want more spooktacular Halloween fun without the hassle of gathering materials? Explore Halloween science and art projects from the <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/us/store/cp/halloween" target="_blank">KiwiCo Store</a>!

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Gather your materials, put your safety goggles on, and head outside!

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Open up the top of your pumpkin and pour in 1 tablespoon of dish soap. 

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Mix 1 tablespoon of dry yeast and 3 tablespoons of warm water for about 30 seconds to 1 minute. 

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Quickly and carefully pour this mixture into one of the holes in the jack-o’-lantern. Then, watch your pumpkin begin to leak! Keep experimenting! Try doubling the recipe or using a jack-o’-lantern with smaller or bigger holes. 

Different amounts of the ingredients used in this project can change how your leaky pumpkin foams up. Turn this project into an experiment by using more or less yeast, or more or less dish soap. What effect does this change have on your leaky pumpkin’s foam?

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This leaky pumpkin foams up all over the place because of a special organism called yeast. Yeast is a type of fungus, and it’s normally used by people to make bread rise and make drinks ferment. For the leaky pumpkin, we use it to make all the bubbles for the foam. A little bit of warm water is all that’s needed to get the yeast ready to work. Yeast makes a special molecule that reacts with hydrogen peroxide. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is like a molecule of water that has one extra oxygen on it. When the yeast reacts with the hydrogen peroxide, it strips off one of those oxygen atoms and turns the hydrogen peroxide into water. H2O2 becomes H2O + oxygen gas. The yeast does this reaction VERY quickly - one yeast can break apart over a million H2O2 molecules in one second. As all that oxygen gets released by the yeast, it bubbles into the dish soap and makes a thick foam. The speed of the reaction pushes the foam out of the holes in the pumpkin, giving this spooky Halloween tradition an added fright factor!

jack-o'-lantern

hydrogen peroxide (6% or 20 volume)

dry yeast (1 tablespoon)

warm water (3 tablespoons)

dish soap (1 tablespoon)

food coloring

small cups

measuring cup

tablespoon measure

safety goggles

Puking Pumpkin

learning activity

My son and I create  a simple tool to help facilitate talking about feelings.

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We glued a piece of orange felt around a baby wipe container and my son held the felt in place until the glue started to dry.

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We brainstormed feelings to place on craft sticks. We stuck to simple feelings that it would be easy to create facial pieces for out of felt. We talked about what people look like when they're feeling different emotions. 

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Eyes, noses, and mouths were cut out of black felt.  It was fun to come up with ways to display the feelings in felt.

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My son found that he ended up trying different eyes and noses than he had planned when we tried to display the emotions. Here's a pumpkin that's looking surprised!

felt

baby wipe container

craft sticks / popsicle sticks

Pumpkin Emotion Learning Tool

homemade craft

Every year, I grab shopping bags or pillowcases to use for last-minute trick or treating bags. Well this year, my son decided to up it a notch by making his own papier mache trick-or-treat basket. This eco-friendly alternative to plastic buckets is fun to make, especially since kids get to be a part of the entire creation process.

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This project has quite a few supplies, but I love how they are all basic things we have around the house. So the cost for the project is actually very low. 

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To start, my son tore newspaper into small pieces. (He loves this step!) He washed his hands afterwards because ink would have gotten everywhere otherwise. While he worked on this task, I blew up a balloon and hung it upside down off the chandelier (to make the papier mache process easier).

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He squeezed half a bottle of glue into a bowl and thinned it out with 1/4 cup of water.  

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He dropped small squares of newspaper into the glue and gently placed the paper on the balloon. He slightly overlapped the paper. (This will give the paper a stronger bond, once the paper dries.) My son didn't cover the top of the balloon (because that's where the candy will go!) -- but if you have very young kids, you may want to enclose most of the balloon and just leave a little hole for the candy. This will save you some spills throughout the night.

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He added on about three or four layers of newspaper on the balloon, making sure each layer dried in-between coats. (We used a blow dryer to speed up the process.)  

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Once the newspaper completely dried, my son popped the balloon. (He loved this part, too.) He then trimmed the opening so that it had a smooth, clean edge. 

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He painted his treat-or-treat bag orange, like a pumpkin -- but of course the creative possibilities are endless. (Does your princess want a pink purse? Does your honeybee want a honey pot?) 

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Once the paint dried, he tied a string to both sides of the basket. And then my little pirate was all set for trick-or-treating! 

newspaper

Glue

Balloons

acrylic paint

paintbrushes

string

Papier Mache Trick-or-Treat Basket

Thanksgiving

treat

dessert

kid-friendly recipes

This recipe is super easy and, best of all, super fun for kids.  My grandmother taught me how to make press-in pie crust when I was a child, and I have been using this recipe ever since.   It saves time and it tastes wonderful, too. It's a fun, sensory activity for kids--sort of like playing with play dough, only you can actually eat it!

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Make the pie filling, then mix together the dough ingredients. (We used a crumb topping for the apple pie version.) Form a ball of dough. (Younger children may need some help.) The dough should easily form a ball. If the dough is too dry, add a little more milk. If it's too wet, add a little more flour to get the right consistency.

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Show your kids how to press the dough into the pan to make a thin crust and crimp the edges at the top.  Pull off any extra dough. Then give them their dough and let them go for it! 

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Have kids scoop the filling from a bowl and put it into their crust. If you've made any crumb topping, have them sprinkle that on top of the filling. 

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Bake your pies according to the filling recipe, minus a few minutes.  (The smaller pies don't take as long to bake.) Once the crust is golden brown and your filling is bubbling, your pies are ready to go. Bon appetit! 

flour (1.5 cups)

milk (3 tablespoons)

oil (1/2 cup)

sugar (2 tablespoons)

salt (a pinch)

pumpkin pie filling (or apple pie filling)

small foil pie tin (1 per child)

Mini Pumpkin Pies Crust

art project

food decoration

food play

Halloween decorations

easy craft

indoor project

My girls and I love pumpkins. I look forward to fall just so I can get my fill of pumpkin crafts, food, and fun. While we thoroughly enjoy crafting together, I try to give my girls a process they will enjoy and leave the end result up to their interpretation. These pasta wheel pumpkins were a perfect activity for them. They enjoyed working with the colored pasta and each made their own unique pumpkins. This activity is perfect for some fall fun.

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We used uncooked macaroni pasta for stems and pasta wheels for the pumpkins. To color our pasta, we separated each into a sandwich bag. We added some green food coloring for the stems and yellow and red food coloring to make orange for the pumpkins, along with some alcohol to help the food coloring spread and adhere. The girls took care of shaking up the bags by dancing and jumping around.  After shaking, we removed the pasta from the sandwich bags and placed them into paper towels to dry, and added some glitter for some sparkly fun.

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To make our pumpkins, both girls drew their pumpkin design onto card stock using glue. The girls each made their own designs. 

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My oldest made one huge pumpkin that she deemed the "great pumpkin." She was very particular about trying to cover all the spaces. It was a bit like a puzzle with the pasta wheels, finding the best placement. 

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My youngest made several mini pumpkins. This was perfect for her and her attention span during the activity. At 5, she still tends to do things rather quickly. 

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Our glittered pasta pumpkins turned out great and they were so easy to make. It was definitely a wonderful fall activity to enjoy together.

23 easy pumpkin projects for kids

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