Have you heard of a pumpkin fairy house before? I hadn’t until recently, but a fairy house is a delightful change from a jack-o-lantern. That’s thinking outside the box, or rather, inside the pumpkin, and encourages creativity and imagination. Jack-o-lanterns do not need to be a face, they can be anything kids can imagine.
A pumpkin fairy house starts the same way as a jack-o-lantern. First, cut off the top of the pumpkin and then scoop out the inside seeds and strings. (You can save the seeds to roast with a little salt for a tasty Halloween treat or to plant next year.) Adults need to cut a big window out of the pumpkin. Of course, the bigger the pumpkin, the bigger the window and fairy house. Ours wasn’t very large so I cut the window down low. After popping out the window, I wish that I had carved the top of it a little closer to the edge of the circle lid and not left quite such a wide space. Now, comes the fun part, making the house.
If the weather is not pouring rain like it was for us, kids can go outside and find some colorful leaves or moss to put down for the fairy floor. We looked thru our recycling and craft boxes to find some bits of fabric and handfuls of fluffy cotton balls. Pine cones and tiny berries would be other nature treasures. Fairies like sparkly things so next came some gold-colored plastic necklaces. Water bottle caps turned over made fairy chairs. Kids can use their imaginations to find things that they think fairies would like and a small tea light will light up the inside.
Not all children are particularly interested in fairies, but most kids have small plastic or wood figurines in their toy box. A pumpkin could also be a house for LEGO people, or superheros, or small animals. It could be a barn or a secret hideout just as easily as a fairy house. What kind of pumpkin house would your child like to make?