How to Make a Pumpkin Person

My mom did so many fun activities with us as kids that made our childhood so memorable and magical and now I'm excited to do the same for Jack! One thing we did every fall was make a pumpkin person!

It's a super easy and fun activity that is easy to do with kids of all ages. All you need is a large old shirt, a pair of large old pants, an old pair of shoes, and old pair of gloves, a plastic pumpkin trick-or-treat basket, some rocks, an old hat, rubber bands, twine, or a needle and thread, a chair, and a pile of leaves. Make sure anything you use you don't mind being out in the weather.

First, lay out your old shirt, button it up, and tie off the sleeves and bottom of the shirt with either rubber bands, twine, or, if you're feeling really energetic, you can sew them. You'll do the same thing to the pants, but you can leave the top open.

Next comes the fun part. Gather a bunch of dried, fallen leaves and stuff the shirt and pants with them! This part is especially fun for kids, and adults too! Make sure your pumpkin person is nice and plump!

Sweet story: I asked my mom how she came up with doing this activity, assuming it was something she'd seen in a magazine in the 90's or something. But she told me something even better; my grammy did it with her and my uncles when they were growing up! I asked my grammy how she thought of it, and she said it was something everyone used to do and that everyone had pumpkin people sitting outside of their houses in the fall, and I just love that.

Now you'll find a chair for your pumpkin person to sit on and place it in front of your house to greet you when you come home and make passersby smile. Place the pants on the chair first and settle the shirt on top of the leaf-filled pants.

Then you'll place your pumpkin trick-or-treat pumpkin basket on top of the shirt to make your pumpkin person's head! Fill the pumpkin with some rocks to weigh your pumpkin person's head down so it doesn't blow away!

Next, gather some accessories: an old hat, an old pair of shoes, and an old pair of gloves to add the final touches to your pumpkin person (or any other accessories you'd like!). Put the bottom of the pants in each shoes, pull the gloves onto the bottom of the sleeves, and place your hat on top of the pumpkin head (just make sure you have a way of tying the hat down so it doesn't blow away either)!

Finally, it's fun to give your pumpkin person a prop. Anything you have will work: an old wagon, a rake, a shovel. Or you can even place some pumpkins or mums around your pumpkin person to make a cute little fall scene.

And that's it! You have a super cute, super fun fall activity, and a new friend! Make sure you tag me (@themanyblessingsblog) in your photos if you make a pumpkin person of your own or add a photo to the comments below if you try it! Have fun and happy fall!