Why Paint Instead of Carving?

Ever carve a pumpkin with young kids? So cozy and wholesome, right? That’s what they want you to think. Nothing is more “Instagram/Reality” worthy (at least in our house) than the pumpkin carving process. Each year our adorable autumnal intentions unravel when my youngest is confronted with the reality of pumpkin innards, my oldest realizes he’s not yet allowed to wield the knife, and we all try to revive a design with toothpicks as it caves in on itself.  

Enter no-carve pumpkin decorating for the win, where paint, stickers, and even permanent markers reign. Bonus–these pumpkins last longer and defy the quick decay of carved pumpkins. Read on for 31 ways to transform your pumpkins into BOOtiful works of art.

31 Fun No-Carve Halloween Pumpkin Painting & Decorating Ideas for Kids

Painted Pumpkin Ideas

1. Pumpkin Sports Balls

Use a pumpkin's spherical(ish) shape to your advantage and transform it into a football, basketball, or baseball. Let your kids paint it a solid color, then you can add simple details like stripes or stitching.

Show off your favorite sport with these painted pumpkins! Photo courtesy of GingerCasa.com

2. Ghost Pumpkin 

Paint the pumpkin white and add big oval eyes. Boo(m)—ghost complete. 

3. Drip & Splatter Paint Pumpkins

Dress for mess and channel your inner Jackson Pollock. Squirt paint directly from the bottle or drizzle it with a spoon and let it drip down the sides of the pumpkin.  

4. Pokémon Pumpkin

A pumpkin makes for a perfect Poké Ball, which is a satisfyingly simple design to replicate. Or go yellow and add some cardboard ears for a pumpkin Pikachu. 

5. Thumbprint Picture Pumpkins

Turn tiny thumbprints into creative creatures. Dip your thumb in paint and press it on the pumpkin to cover its surface with prints. Once dry, use a permanent marker to add faces, arms, and legs to transform each print into monsters, ghosts, and other cute or creepy creatures.

These ghosts are easy for kids to make with a thumb dipped in paint! Photo by Valeria Boltneva via Canva.com

6. Emoji Pumpkin

Paint your pumpkins a bright yellow and let dry. Then make your squash smile by painting on the features of your favorite emojis. 

7. Donut Pumpkins

Paint the top and bottom halves of your pumpkin different colors, then add colorful painted sprinkles all over the top for that delicious donut look.

8. Tempera Paint Stick Pumpkins

Toddler-friendly and mess-free! Tempera paint sticks are an awesome no-mess alternative that still gives a painted effect. 

9. Free-paint Pumpkin

Put your pumpkins in a big bin to catch the mess, prepare small cups of washable tempera paint, and let your littlest artists have at it.

10. Rainbow Pumpkin

Paint your pumpkin in sections in the rainbow color order.

Show your pride or just a love of rainbow colors! Photo by @svetlanais2 via Canva.com

11.  Mini Marbleized Pumpkins

This tricky treat uses nail polish to make the prettiest pumpkins. Pour brightly colored nail polish in a bowl of water and stir. Dip and swirl a mini pumpkin in the mixture to pick up the color. Warning: you may want to let the kids pour the paint while you do the dipping. Less mess!

12. Pumpkin Collage

It's not quite paint but still in that family—break out the Mod Podge, or dilute some white glue with water, and use a paintbrush to collage with tissue paper, magazine clippings, or even foliage on your pumpkin. Paint over your collage items to seal them in (it'll dry clear!).

13.  Swiftie Pumpkin

Look What You Made Me Boo! We know Fall Too Well that Swifites can Swift-ify anything. Paint a punny pumpkin and design it in the style of your favorite era (Spook Now? Evergore?) or adorn it with a friendship bracelet by painting white circles with letters around it.

Painted Pumpkins with 3-D Decorations

14. Unicorn Pumpkin

Transform the stem of your pumpkin into a unicorn horn! Use a sparkly party hat or make a cone shape from shiny paper and glue it on top of the stem. Paint your pumpkin white and give it some eyelashes. Glue on some sequins and gems for more magic.

15. Farm Animal Pumpkins

Turn your pumpkin on its side and turn its stem into a snout! Paint it white with black splotches for a cow, or pink for a pig with a curly pipe cleaner tail. Add some ears with colored cardstock and a glue gun.

16.  Pineapple Pumpkin

Got a long, oval pumpkin? Paint it yellow and hot glue some green paper leaves to the stem for an easy pumpkin pineapple.

17. Bat Pumpkins

Paint your pumpkin black and glue on wings cut from black cardstock. Don't forget some fangs and googly eyes.

18. Snowperson Pumpkin

Paint three pumpkins of different sizes white. Cut off the stems and use a hot glue gun to stack them like a snowman. Dress it up with the usual features and accessories. 

19. Mickey Pumpkin

Paint the top half red and bottom half black. Slap on some big white buttons and add Mickey's signature ears by cutting black cardboard circles and gluing them to your pumpkin.

No-paint Crafty Pumpkins

20.  Tape Mummies 

Let your kids have at it with some white tape or plain old masking tape. Wrap your pumpkin up and add some googly eyes for a mummified pumpkin.

21. Striped Tape Pumpkins

Use colored masking tape to create a stripey design. 

22. Polka-Dot Pumpkin

Use circular office label stickers and cover your pumpkin with polka dots. Look up the artist Yayoi Kusama for an artistic extension.

23. Porcupine Pumpkin

Poke your pumpkin with toothpicks to transform it into a porcupine. Turn it on its side first so that the stem becomes your porcupine's nose, then draw some eyes with permanent marker. 

24. String Light Pumpkins

Wrap your pumpkins in fairy lights to make your gourd glow.

25. Pumpkin Googly Eyes 

Glue googly eyes all over for a spooky pumpkin that will be watching you!

Simply stick on some googly eyes and you won't even have the mess of paint! Photo by Janissimo via Canva.com

26.  Push-pin Pumpkins

For older kiddos, use push-pins or thumb tacks to make a design on your pumpkin. Spell out a word, use them to make polka dots, or think of them as pixels and make a mosaic.

27. Pom-Pom Pumpkin

Grab the glue gun and cover that orange orb in a rainbow of pom-poms.

28. Pumpkin Spider Web

Wrap your pumpkin in white string using bits of tape to secure. Add a plastic spider ring to the web or make your own spider from black pipe cleaners.

29. Pipe Cleaner Pumpkins

Glue pipe cleaners all over your pumpkin in a striped pattern or cut them to look like rainbow sprinkles. You can also tape one end of a pipe cleaner to the pumpkin and curl the other end to make a twisty sculpture.

30. Melted Crayon Pumpkin

Glue crayons (remove the paper first) around the top of a pumpkin. Once dry, break out a hair dryer and blast the pumpkin until the wax melts and drips down the sides.

No need for messy pumpkin carving when you can cut out black contstruction paper! Photo by Alfo Images via Canva.com

31. Faux Jack O' Lanterns

Cut spooky facial features from black paper (simple triangles are perfect!). Stick them on your pumpkin for a fool-the-eye Jack O' Lantern! 

How Do You Prep A Pumpkin for Painting?

First thing's first—try to pick a pumpkin in a size and shape that makes sense for how you plan to decorate it, and look for one without too much texture or blemish. Use wet wipes or a damp cloth to wipe away any dirt and to give your pumpkin a shine. You can use a bit of dish soap for any stubborn spots. Better yet, put your pumpkins in a plastic bin with a little water, throw in some bubbles and sponges, and turn your prep into a pumpkin washing sensory station for your toddler. 

If you want to get really fancy, you can prime your pumpkin with gesso before painting and use a top sealant like this one after the paint dries. 

What’s the Best Paint to Use on Pumpkins?

There are lots of options! 

• Acrylic paint is ideal for vibrant pumpkins but is best used by slightly older kids. Acrylic paint pens are great for fine details.
• Tempera paint or tempera paint sticks are great for littler artists to use for a more process art approach.
• Glow-in-the-dark fluorescent paint is another fun way to level up your pumpkin paintings.

Also good to have on hand:

• Hot glue gun
• Colored cardstock
• Googly eyes
• A bin for catching any mess

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