5 Pumpkin Praise Games for Kids

It’s pumpkin season! For the record, pumpkin spice anything is gross in my humble opinion, but I’m still pretty fond of pumpkins because it’s so easy to use them to have fun praising God with kids. You’re probably already familiar with the concept of pumpkin carving or painting, but have you ever tried pumpkin praising? You can use pumpkin games to enjoy praising Jesus with kids!
 

 

PUMPKIN PRAISE GAMES for KIDS

1. Pass the Pumpkin

We’ve been passing a mini pumpkin around the table and praising God at mealtimes. My kids love it! When you’ve got the pumpkin, it’s your turn to say something that you praise God for. Even our youngest has grasped the concept and has started saying “Thank you God!” whenever she sees a pumpkin. When not in use, the pumpkin sits as a decoration in the middle of the table.

2. Painted Pumpkin Praises

Give kids a pumpkin and a wide variety of paint colors and let them create a masterpiece. Once it’s done you can take turns pointing at the pumpkin’s different colors and naming something you praise God for that matches that color. If you use a mini pumpkin you can set it on your table and play this game at mealtimes every day. (You can even use this same pumpkin for the “Pass the Pumpkin” activity above! It’s two pumpkin games for the price of one!)

3. Alphabet Pumpkins

This is a fun game for little kids who are learning their letters and sounds. (Which means this activity counts as legit schoolwork for homeschoolers like us! Woot! Woot!) Paint or carve a pumpkin and help your kiddos paint or write letters all over it. You can also give them foam letter stickers to plaster all over the pumpkin if you want. Once you’re finished, take turns pointing at the different letters and thinking of something that begins with that letter that you’re thankful for. As an added twist, you can also say things you’re thankful for and have your kids race to find the first letter of each blessing that you name on the pumpkin.

 
 
 

4. Personalized Pumpkins Paintings

Slather your kids’ fingers with paint and help them make a handprint on their pumpkin. (With a bit of creativity you can even make it look like a turkey like a genius friend of mine did!) Read Psalm 139:13-14 and talk about how unique and special each child is to God and to you. Tell them God gave them a unique thumbprint that doesn’t match any other thumbprint in the whole world. Let them dip their thumbs in paint and take turns adding thumbprint spots to their pumpkin as they say things that are unique about them. For example: they could say “God made me with brown eyes,” or “I like dinosaurs,” or maybe “My favorite food is bacon,” when they add a spot.

5. Permanent Pumpkin Praises

Use a permanent markers to list things you praise God for on a pumpkin. (If you have lots of different colored Sharpies you can be super fun and let kids take turns choosing the color.) Keep going until you have lots of permanent praises on the pumpkin. Read Psalm 34:1 “I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth,” and explain that we should be permanently praising God because He is worthy of our praise all the time. Encourage the kids to think of something new to praise God for each morning when they wake up and every night when they go to bed. God deserves our permanent praise! After this brief devotional, spin the pumpkin around a few times and shout out one of the words you wrote on it. Stop spinning the pumpkin and have the kids race to find where the word you shouted out is written on the pumpkin. The kid who finds it has 10 seconds to look at the pumpkin and find another word before spinning the pumpkin and shouting out the new word to continue playing.

What does your family enjoy doing with pumpkins? Please share your ideas and traditions in the comments! If you’re looking for more Thanksgiving themed activities for your family or Sunday School class, CLICK HERE to see demonstrations of some easy Thanksgiving games for kids.

“I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.” Psalm 34:1

If you’d like more pumpkin themed ideas, lessons, and activities for kids, check out our FREE pumpkin object lessons on the resources page!

Nathan Hamilton
Latest posts by Nathan Hamilton (see all)

 

One Response

  1. […] That’s all there is to it! With a little prep work, you can turn the popular tradition of pumpkin carving into an opportunity to teach kids about the gospel. If you’d like to watch a demonstration of this pumpkin object lesson, check out Nathan’s video below. You can even make things really easy on yourself by watching this video with your kids BEFORE you carve a pumpkin. The video can do the bulk of the teaching and then you can discuss it and review it as you carve pumpkins together. If you’d like MORE pumpkin themed ideas that point kids to Christ, click here! Enjoy! […]

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