Felt Jack-O-Lantern with Shapes

This idea sprung from a popular post by Crafts by Amanda. We loved her idea of allowing kids to create multiple expressions on a felt jack-o-lantern. Her project allows adults and children to work together and name feelings or describe how the jack-o-lantern might be feeling based upon its expression- a great social-emotional and fine motor activity.

We decided to explore the concept of shape recognition with our felt jack-o-lantern.

You will need:
A large felt background
1 sheet of orange felt
1 sheet of black felt
green and brown felt (can be scraps)
Optional: Needle, thread

We took two sheets of grey, textured eco felt and sewed into one piece.

Cut a pumpkin shape from a full sheet of orange felt.
We printed an pumpkin template off the Internet and secured the paper to the orange felt with safety pens. We then cut through the paper and orange felt to create a pumpkin shape.
The eco felt was stiff enough on its own to create a stiff working surface but still allowing us to sew the orange pumpkin on- we used yellow embroidery floss.

A large sheet of felt or fabric will work as well.
After you sew the pumpkin onto the felt or fabric, glue it to a large piece of cardboard to provide a stiff working surface.

Cut your black felt.
We cut 4 strips about 1- 1-1/2 inches so there was some black felt remaining on the sheet.

It was fairly easy to cut the shapes from each strip.
We cut 6 rectangles, 7 squares, 7 circles and 7 triangles.

Also note our pumpkin doesn't have a stem.
We cut brown and green stems in the shapes of triangles, squares, rectangles and a vine with a circle in the empty space.

Time to play!

And all the pieces fit inside the pumpkin for storage!

Happy Halloween!