Free, Easy Pumpkin Carving Patterns for Halloween

Tired of the same old scary-face pumpkin? Last year we made a great alien head pumpkin, and we did it from a pumpkin carving pattern we found on the Web. Best of all, carving the alien head took only about an hour from start to finish.

You can find hundreds of pumpkin carving patterns on the Web, many of them free to download. But a lot of the patterns are too complex when young children are "helping." They lose interest long before it's done, and then it becomes Daddy's pumpkin.

Read on for sources of free, easy pumpkin carving patterns and tips for carving pumpkins with your kids.

What's a pumpkin carving pattern?

For people like me, who can't draw a stick figure but still have to carve a pumpkin or two every Halloween, pumpkin carving patterns are essential. Pumpkin carving patterns are image or .PDF files that you download and print from your computer.

Most pumpkin carving patterns are black-and-white, although some have shaded areas indicating places where you can shave (but not cut out) the pumpkin, creating "see through" areas that look cool when you add a light source to your pumpkin.

How do you use the pumpkin carving pattern?

After you have downloaded the pumpkin carving pattern and printed it, do one of the following:

1. Cut out the shapes that make up the pumpkin carving pattern and tape them individually to your pumpkin. Then carve around them. Or, you can outline the shapes with a marker and take them off before you carve.

This method works well if your pumpkin carving pattern is a little too big or too small for your pumpkin. You can adjust the space between shapes or cut them smaller before you tape them on.

2. Tape the entire pattern to your pumpkin, and use a large pin (or other pointy object -- some pumpkin carving kits come with a pointed tool) to poke holes along the lines of your pattern. Then peel off the pattern and use the holes as a guide for carving.

This method takes awhile but it's the best for a more complicated design, so you don't mess it up by separating the shapes from one another.

Download free, easy pumpkin carving patterns

Here are seven sites where you can get free, easy pumpkin carving patterns.

ExtremePumpkins.com
http://www.extremepumpkins.com
Some of the designs on this site are difficult, but others are entertaining and deceptively simple -- I can't decide which we'll do this year: "The Puking Pumpkin" or "I Wrote A Book."

Jack-o-Lantern.Com
http://www.jack-o-lantern.com/
This site has lots of pumpkin carving patterns ranging from very cool and difficult, to really easy. The site is completely free, though donations are welcome. This is where we got the super "Alien Invasion!" pumpkin carving pattern.

The Pumpkin Lady
www.pumpkinlady.com
This site sells "pattern books" with complicated designs, but there are some free pumpkin carving patterns including three new ones for 2008. Many of the free patterns are simple ones.

Swan's Pumpkin Farm
http://www.thepumpkinfarm.com/carving_tips.html
This site offers the easiest pumpkin carving patterns that I found, and they're free.

Halloween Pumpkin Carving Templates
http://www.ehow.com/halloween/templates.html
Many of the pumpkin carving patterns in this eHow article look very easy to do, like "Mean Laugh," and the patterns are big enough for large pumpkins.

TLTK's Pumpkin Carving Patterns
http://www.dltk-holidays.com/halloween/mpatterns.htm
A few of the patterns on this site are difficult, but the bat and the owl head look easy. The site also offers character patterns your kids will want to try, like Blue's Clues and Scooby.

Pumpkin Masters
http://www.pumpkinmasters.com/free_patterns_main.asp
There are only three free patterns here, but "Jack Junior" looks super easy, if you're in a bind to get your pumpkin done fast.

Ten tips for carving pumpkins with kids

1. Consider not carving one at all! There are artificial pumpkin kits available at craft stores that let you avoid the mess and safety issues of carving a real pumpkin. Or, you can have the kids decorate a pumpkin with markers or paint.

2. If you are going to carve, pick a pattern that matches your skills and time -- and the attention span of your children.

3. Avoid school nights for your carving party. When you're pressed for time, carving becomes a chore and not a fun activity for your kids.

4. Download your pumpkin carving pattern early, before the best sites slow to a crawl or start spitting errors as the sites reach their bandwidth limits.

5. Take the pumpkin carving pattern with you to buy the pumpkin, so you get the right size and shape.

6. Safety first! Unless your kids are older, parents should do all the work with sharp-edged or pointed tools. Consider using an artificial light source instead of a candle in case the kids decide to "just look at" the pumpkin while you're not around. If you do use a candle, use a short, fat one and cut a "vent hole" in the top of the pumpkin. Make sure there's no pumpkin pulp left to catch on fire, and consider putting the candle inside a glass jar for extra stability.

7. Buy a pumpkin carving kit (or two, if you want to avoid fights). They're not expensive, and they will speed the task amazingly over using a spoon and a kitchen knife. (You might even get the carving done before your kids lose interest). You can save the kit from one year to the next.

8. If you have small children, do most of the "scooping" before you call the kids. They can watch a Halloween cartoon while you remove all the pulp and hollow out the pumpkin rind. The thinner the walls of the pumpkin, the faster the actual carving will go.

9. Depending on what you've picked as your pumpkin carving pattern, you can get some great pictures if you ask your kids to pose with the pumpkin and try to imitate the "pumpkin face."

10. If you have time, roast some or all of the pumpkin seeds (see the resources section for a link to an easy recipe). The seeds are packed with antioxidants. And even if the kids won't eat them, they'll think it's seriously gross -- and fun! -- when you do.

Happy carving!