17 August 2026 · Little Rei

9 Things to Do With Pumpkins

Pumpkin season falls in autumn — which means roughly September to November in the northern hemisphere and March to May in the southern, so use whichever applies where you are. A pumpkin is one of the better props for a small child regardless of the month: it is heavy, cold, oddly textured, edible, and cheap enough that ruining one does not matter. Nine things to do with it, most of which take under ten minutes.

1. Scoop it out as a sensory tray

Cut the top off, put the pumpkin on a mat, and let a sitting baby put their hands into the cold, stringy inside. The texture is unlike anything else in a baby's week — wet, fibrous, cold, resistant. Supervise closely, expect hands to go to the mouth, and keep the seeds out of reach for under-threes, since they are a choking size.

2. Paint it instead of carving it

Carving is an adult activity with a knife in it. Painting is a child activity, lasts longer, and does not rot within four days. Washable non-toxic paint, a fat brush or bare hands, and no expectation of a face. A painted pumpkin also survives being pushed around the floor by a toddler, which a carved one does not.

3. Roll it, push it, carry it

A small pumpkin is a nearly perfect gross-motor object: too heavy to throw, round enough to roll, awkward enough that carrying it requires both arms and a whole-body adjustment. Toddlers will move one from room to room for a surprisingly long time. Choose one they can actually lift — about one to two kilograms, or two to four pounds.

4. Make it a first food

Pumpkin is a good early food: soft when cooked, mild, naturally sweet, and it holds together in a shape a baby can hold. Steam or roast it plain with no salt, no honey under twelve months, and no butter if you are avoiding dairy. For baby-led weaning, cut a finger-sized wedge, cooked soft enough to squash between your fingers. For purée, blend with a little of the cooking water. Introduce it as you would any single new food, and follow whatever allergen guidance your health service gives.

5. Roast the seeds — for everyone over three

Rinse, dry, toss with a little oil, roast until they pop and colour. They are a good snack for adults and older children, and are firmly not suitable for babies or toddlers: small, hard and exactly the wrong shape. Keep the bowl off the floor and off the low table.

6. Use it as a bath toy or a water-tray object

A small whole pumpkin floats. In a bath or a shallow water tray it becomes a lesson in buoyancy that requires no explanation — push it down, it comes back up, every time. Scrub it first, and take it out afterwards rather than leaving it in warm water to soften.

7. Stamp with the offcuts

Cut a thick slice, dip the flat face in paint, press it onto paper. The ridges print beautifully, and a toddler can do it without any fine motor control at all. The same works with the lid you cut off the top, which is otherwise thrown away.

8. Turn it into a container

A scooped pumpkin is a bowl. Fill it with balls, blocks, or the pumpkin's own flesh, and you have the filling-and-emptying game that occupies children between about ten months and two years more reliably than anything you could buy. It also works as a vase, a pen pot, or a serving bowl for a meal if you line it.

9. Compost it, and watch what happens

A pumpkin left in a garden or compost heap collapses visibly over a few weeks, and a toddler who visits it every few days gets a clear, unforced lesson in decomposition. Left with seeds inside, it may sprout the following season. If you have no garden, most councils that collect food waste will take it — a carved pumpkin is food, not decoration, and it is worth not putting in general waste.

How do you choose the right pumpkin?

The large field pumpkins sold for carving and the smaller ones sold for eating are usually different varieties, and the difference matters if you intend to cook any of it. Carving pumpkins are bred for size and a hollow cavity; their flesh is thin, watery and bland. Culinary varieties — sugar or pie pumpkins, kabocha, butternut and the many regional winter squashes — have dense, sweet flesh and are what you want for a baby's first food.

• Buy two if you are doing both: one large one to scoop and decorate, one small culinary one to cook.
• For a toddler to carry, choose about one to two kilograms (two to four pounds) — heavy enough to be interesting, light enough to lift.
• Look for a firm stalk still attached and no soft spots. A pumpkin with the stalk broken off spoils considerably faster.
• Whole and uncut, a pumpkin keeps for weeks somewhere cool and dry, so the activities are not confined to the week you buy it.
• Once cut, refrigerate anything you intend to eat and use it within a few days — faster in warm or humid conditions.

What should you watch out for?

• Seeds and small chunks are choking hazards for under-threes. Sensory play with the inside of a pumpkin needs constant supervision, not just presence in the room.
• Cut pumpkin spoils quickly, especially in warm or humid conditions. Refrigerate anything you intend to cook, and discard sensory-play material at the end of the session rather than saving it.
• Carve away from children, or do not carve at all. Pumpkin carving injuries are common and pumpkins are slippery.
• Use battery tea lights rather than candles inside a carved pumpkin, and check that the battery compartment is screw-secured — button batteries are dangerous if swallowed.
• Decorative gourds are not all edible. Cook only the eating varieties, and never eat any squash that tastes unusually bitter.

One pumpkin genuinely covers most of this list: scoop it for sensory play, cook the flesh for the baby, stamp with a slice, roast the seeds for the adults, use the shell as a container, and compost what is left. That is six activities and no waste from a vegetable that costs very little.

Questions parents ask

Keep reading

• Halloween at Home: Safe Activities for the Whole Family
• Terrific Thanksgiving Crafts for the Whole Family
• Why Just Play Is More Than Okay

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