ColorNest
Pumpkins belong to the gourd family and can take between 75 and 100 days to grow from seed to full size. Every jack-o'-lantern started as a plain pumpkin vine flower — the bright orange skin develops as the fruit ripens in autumn sun. Carving faces into pumpkins is a tradition that goes back centuries, originally done with turnips in Ireland before immigrants brought the custom to North America.
Coloring ideas: give each of the three pumpkins its own shade — try classic orange for one, a pale yellow for another, and a warm red for the third so they stand apart. Color the carved face openings dark grey or black so they glow, and use greens ranging from lime to deep forest for the vines and leaves to create a natural layered look.
Younger kids can tackle the big round pumpkin shapes first using wide crayons, then fill in the leaves with a second color. Older kids can practice blending two shades of orange on the same pumpkin to show its ribbed sections. Try tracing the curling vine lines with a thin marker before coloring the rest.
