I love carving pumpkins. I love making pumpkins of characters of our favorite movies and video games. Pumpkins that are a little spooky. Pumpkins with the symbol for pi. Pumpkins that are happy. I love them all. But in recent years, my hands have started to have quite a bit of arthritis and joint pain, so I have not been able to carve as many or as intricately. (It has also affected my sewing and costuming, but that is another story. Occupational therapy hasn’t helped, so I am seeking other options. Probably my most real post so far.)
Anyway, I have had to find other options for jack-o-lanterns. And when I happened upon this craft, I 100% knew I had to make them. When I did it for the first time, I only had styrofoam cups in my craft stash. Now that I have paper cups, I think I love the craft even more. And I think your family will, too. And, while you are waiting for your orange paint to dry, I have the perfect game for you to play with your kids to target that tricky J sound. More on that later, as usual.
Supply List:
- Paper cup
- Orange paint
- Paint brush, cup, apron, and table covering
- Craft stick
- Green pipe cleaner
- Battery-operated tea light
- Black marker
- Scissors
Step-by-Step Directions:
The first step in this craft is to paint the outside of the cup orange. Unless you have bought orange cups – then you are one step ahead already. This step takes the longest because you need the paint to be absolutely dry before you can use the black marker in the next step.
After the paint is completely dry (I mean it, you don’t want it to be damp at all), you can use the black marker to draw eyes and a mouth on your jack-o-lantern. I went for a happy face, but you could definitely do spooky or scared or silly. It’s up to you. While you are drawing with the marker, you may want to make a dot where you will put the nose and a line on the top where you will insert the craft stick.
Next it is time to make the holes for the nose and craft stick. I just stuck my scissors through the top – straight in and out – for the craft stick hole. I stuck the scissors in and rotated them to make a hole I could push the “flame” of the tea light through.
The next step really made the jack-o-lantern look festive – I inserted the tea light from the inside out. It stays in place without glue if you get the flame completely through.
Now it is time to make the stem. I fold the pipe cleaner in half, then I wrap each side around my finger to curl it like a pumpkin vine. I wrap that around the stem about 2 inches from the top of the stem.
All that is left after that is to push the stem into the top of the jack-o-lantern. This is really the finishing touch – I love the character it adds to the project. So does Ceres, who had to help me finish my project. Please excuse any cat hair or parts in the photos. lol
This is usually the time in my blog that I share a game, and I am still going to get to that, but I have an exciting announcement and I want you to be the first to know! I will be starting a Speech and Language Craft and Game Membership for Families in the next few weeks. There will be a special deal for everyone that joins the first month – lots of value from the start – and it will be hosted on Patreon. I have found Patreon really easy to navigate and I love the app, so I hope you will love it, too. Waiting list will be opening soon – be sure to get on my list or on my socials to hear when it opens.
As I say every week, my goal with this blog is to make sure that people leave each of my posts feeling equipped to practice articulation or phonics with their learner. So, I always have a game from my Teachers Pay Teachers store (Autumn Emigh Creative Communication Solutions) on special sale for you. This week, it is a game called “Guess Which Jack-o-Lantern.” The product includes instructions with a link to a digital Google Slides game. You also receive printable game boards in color and black and white. The digital and printable versions of the game contain the same initial J words for your learner to practice. Get it until November 27th for half price – just $1.00!
Just click on the photo above or HERE to get your copy today! And be sure to fill out the form below to get on my email list. Not only are my email subscribers the first to know when each of my blog posts goes live, they also get information about products, events, and summits each week. I’ll always do my best to make it worthwhile for you to stick around, but it is super easy to unsubscribe if you ever wish to.
I hope that you safe and happy Halloween with your family and that you get the perfect amount of candy for your sweet tooth. I will be here handing out candy and admiring all the fun costumes. And I will be back in 2 weeks to share a calliope corn craft – I’m told that is the new name for Indian Corn – and a great Corn Board Game for the vocalic OR sound.
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