If you’ve been following along on Instagram, you know that I have a slight pumpkin obsession.  I didn’t realize it until somebody at the farmer’s market pointed out how many I’ve been buying over the weeks.  My grand total (so far…) — 21.  But that also includes gourds.  And most of them are small.

So I’m not exactly sure where this pumpkin obsession came from — I don’t like pumpkin flavor anything, but apparently I love turning pumpkins into activities for kids!

We went to the pumpkin patch yesterday, and I was on the hunt for the perfect pumpkin to turn into a chalkboard.  I found a huge one and spent all night painting it with chalkboard paint (found at your local craft store — side note:  if you wait 21 days after applying it, you can put whatever you painted in the dishwasher.  I can’t figure out what you would possibly put chalkboard paint on that would need to be washed in the dishwasher, but it’s an option…).  I let it dry overnight, then set it up on a floor table for L to explore.

L had been watching me paint it last night, so she was pretty excited to dive right in as soon as I set this up.  My mom bought her these awesome multi-colored chalks, so I put one in a basket beside the pumpkin and she immediately started drawing.   I might have had some fun with it too.

I also put a clean, dry washcloth beside the pumpkin, so L could wipe off her artwork when she was finished.  I later caught N wiping the pumpkin with the cloth — she wants to do everything her big sister does!

This pumpkin chalkboard will obviously not last forever, but it will definitely get us through Halloween, and it may have to become a new Halloween tradition in our house!