Carving a pumpkin is one of the highlights of the Halloween festival, but what to do with your orange fruit once the 31st has gone?
As Tops, we offer as many different textures, tastes and smells to explore as possible… and Halloween is the perfect excuse to get sticky with pumpkin!
We carve them, paint them, paint with them, build with them… the list is endless. Keep an eye out for our Halloween activities post once November comes around to see what Tops children have been up to.
The dilemma comes when the ghoulies and ghosties have retired for the night on the 31st, and we have pumpkins left behind. We’ve popped on our thinking hats and come up with a selection of different things to do with those pesky leftover pumpkins.
- Pumpkin Puree- fantastic to use in pie, soup, bread, muffins and even pumpkin butter. Take a pumpkin (one that hasn’t been battered or painted!) and scoop out the innards. Cut it into chunks and roast on a baking tray for 45mins at 180C. Peel off the skin and blend the pumpkin into a puree. Use it then and there or freeze it to use in delicious recipes.
- Roasted Pumpkin Seeds- a good source of omega-3, which is fantastic for skin, hair, nails, brain health, and cholesterol. Just rinse of the seeds, season them if desired, and roast for 20 minutes at 150C
- Bird Food- pumpkin seeds are also great to feed to birds. Rinse them, let them dry, then present them on your bird table.
- Beauty products- rich in nutrients that are fantastic for your skin and hair, there are countless chemical laden beauty products than could be replaced with your pumpkin. Check out treehugger.com for ideas on how to make body scrub, face masks, conditioner and much more!
- Bird Feeder- cut the pumpkin in half horizontally. Poke some sticks in to make perches, fill with bird seed, and string up for the fluttery wildlife to enjoy!
- Pumpkin Planter- pot a small plant into a pumpkin and it’ll last for several weeks. When it starts to get a bit worse for wear, plant the whole thing directly into your garden and the pumpkin will naturally decompose.
- Save the Seeds- if you’re not a fan of eating roast pumpkin seeds, you could also save them (squeaky clean of course!) and plant them in the spring to grow your very own pumpkins.
There are loads of different ideas available on the internet. Try thepennyhoarder for some more suggestions.
Some of our pumpkins get explored quite vigorously by interested children. They’re not fit for re-purposing… if yours are the same, make sure to compost them!
