Pumpkin Patch Fun

Pumpkins come in different shapes and sizes. While you’re at the pumpkin patch, see if you can find the roundest, the tallest, the funniest looking, the one with the curliest stem, the one with the longest stem, and one with no stem at all.

Partially fill your plastic bottles with water. Cut the stems off the pumpkins so they roll easier. Then set your “water-bottle pins” on a grassy surface, and start bowling with your pumpkin balls. The scoring system—or whether you score at all—is up to you.

Carve a pumpkin and leave a wide hole in the top. Take five steps away from the pumpkin and try to pitch pennies into the pumpkin. If it’s too hard, step closer. If it’s too easy, step farther away. The person who gets the most pennies in the pumpkin wins.

After Halloween, put your jack-o’-lantern and pumpkin bowling balls in your yard for local wildlife to enjoy. Squirrels, raccoons, deer, and even many dogs will chow down with gusto on all parts of the pumpkin.