Rubberband Pumpkin Craft for Kids

Super cute pumpkin craft for elementary kids who are ready for a fall kids activity!

This has got to be my favorite fall craft we’ve ever made. It is perfect for my 2nd grader who is ready for a little more involved crafts than my preschoolers or toddler are. But it can easily be adapted to be a preschool craft too.

Pumpkin Craft for Kids Supplies

grab your piece of painted scrap book, a pumpkin cookie cutter, and a sharpie

Supplies:

wood (6-8" x 4-5" tall

green spray paint (optional)

black sharpie

30 nails (with large head)

hammer

pumpkin cookie cutter

orange rubberbands

You will need a scrap piece of wood. If you don’t have a pile laying around like we do, pop over to Home Depot and ask. They cut would down there and often times have little scraps like this you can have for free. You only need it to be slightly bigger than your pumpkin cookie cutter – so probably 6-8” wide by 4-6” tall.

Make a Pumpkin Craft with Hammer, Nails, and Rubberbands

trace your pumpkin cookie cutter onto your wood using your sharpie

Now trace your pumpkin cookie cutter using a sharpie onto your painted (and dried) scrap of food.

Hint: If you are worried about destroying your cookie cutter you can wrap it in foil or just pick up a new cookie cutter from Goodwill.

Have your child hammer in nails around the pumpkin line

Next you will need to hammer nails into your wood along the outline of your pumpkin.

You will want them spaced about every 1” and make sure they are sticking up about 1”. Depending on the age of your kids, this is a great activity to introduce elementary age kids to working with tools. But if you have Toddler, Preschool, or Kindergarten age kids you will want to do the hammering yourself. Always make sure to use caution when working with tools.

now start adding rubber bands going from one nail to the next

Once you have nails around the perimeter of the pumpkin it is time to start using those little finger muscles to add rubber bands. Put the orange rubberbands from one nail to another in a variety of orientations and lengths.

continue adding lots of criss crossing rubberbands until you get the look you like

Keep adding lots of rubberbands until you have a thick layer with lots of crisscrossing.

Finally add a small strip of felt to look like a stem. The contrast with the flat texture of the felt looks stunning next to the rubberbands. It was such a fun project to make for my 2nd grade son appealing to his growing skill level and interest in Daddy’s tools too! Plus it is one of the neatest looking projects I think we’ve done. It’s a keeper for sure.