Halloween for kids Pumpkin carving ideas Flying bat
Bat pumpkin carving idea
Ages 6+ · about 1 hour
A bat pumpkin is one shape with wide wings, cut out of the side. Tape the bat stencil on, trace it with a pushpin, and a grown-up saws the wing points slowly.
What you need
- A pumpkin
- The bat stencil
- A big spoon
- Tape and a pushpin
- A small pumpkin saw (for the grown-up)
- A battery tea light
How to make it
- Print the stencilPrint the bat stencil so the wings almost reach both sides of the pumpkin's front.
- Open it (grown-up)A grown-up cuts a lid around the stem with the knife angled toward the middle, so the lid sits on a ledge and doesn't fall in.
- Scoop it outYour kid scoops out the seeds and strings with a big spoon, then scrapes the inside of the front until the wall is about 2 cm (1 inch) thick.
- Trace the batTape the stencil flat and poke along the outline, closer together at the wing points. Peel it off.
- Carve (grown-up)A grown-up saws the body first, then each wing, turning the saw slowly at every point.
- Light itPut a battery tea light inside and put the lid back on. It is safer than a candle, and the pumpkin lasts longer.
Tips by age
For younger kids
Your kid pokes the pushpin dots along the straight parts of the wings while a grown-up does the points.
For older kids
Carve three bats of different sizes flying across the pumpkin.
Make it your own
More ideas like this
Polka dots
A grown-up drills round holes all over; your kid marks where each dot goes.
Haunted house
For kids 9 to 13: more pieces and thinner walls, so cut slowly.
Classic happy face
Triangle eyes and a toothy grin: three straight cuts per shape, the easiest first pumpkin.
On Kubrio, your kid can build a monster in Monster Maker and use its face as the design for the pumpkin.