Halloween is right around the corner and last night we took on the task of pumpkin carving. This year, a full day and night of constant rain meant that the pumpkin carving was going to have to take place indoors. In an effort to keep the kitchen clean while still allowing the kiddos to continue with this time-honored tradition, I came up with a plan to keep the mess at a minimum. This strategy took just a couple minutes of prep time and meant that the clean-up was a mere 5 minutes.
The Prep
I realized that all the icky insides of these pumpkins were going to have to go somewhere and I didn’t want that to be on my dining room table.
Step 1: I took two plastic trash bags out, along with a pair of scissors. I used those scissors to cut along the right and left seams of the bag, clear down to the bottom seam, but leaving the bottom seam in tact.
Step 2: I then opened up the trash bags and laid them out on the table, making sure they covered the surface of the table where we would be working. I then put a pumpkin out for each child to work on.
Step 3: Give each child a bowl. Even with the trash bags in place, I wanted to contain as much of the mess as possible. I placed a plastic bowl next to each pumpkin, giving them the perfect place to drop all the pumpkin guts they proceeded to spend the next 20 minutes scooping out.
The Carving
The kids needed help cutting around the tops of the pumpkins. Once I had the tops off, I gave them each a Crayola washable marker to write the face on their Jack-O-Lantern. We found that these worked well because a damp paper towel erased wiped the marker clean if they made a mistake. Once their faces were just the way they wanted them, I let them use the pumpkin carving tools to cut out their faces.
The Clean Up
Once all our pumpkins were carved the real test came. Did my bowl and trash bag system hold up to the task?
Step 1: I moved all three pumpkins out to the deck.
Step 2: Then I quickly rinsed off the knives and scoops and placed them back in a Zippered bag until next year.
Step 3: I got out a third and final trash bag, had one kid help me hold it open, and dumped the contents of each bowl into the bag. Finally, I carefully rolled up the trash bags, being sure to contain the mess, and threw them into the trash bag too.
Step 4: All that was left to do was rinse out the three bowls and the clean up was done! Seriously, it took less than 5 minutes to reclaim my kitchen in time to start dinner.
Cleaning Bonus
Halloween brings with it tons of sugary treats. When you kids have filled up on all that candy, proper teeth brushing is even more important than usual. The blog at Dr. Alvarez’ Pediatric Dentistry provides us with some great tips on how to keep get your kids to keep those teeth clean and healthy.
Your Tips and Tricks
Do you have tricks or tips to pumpkin carving? We would love to hear about them.