Toddler Fall Action Art With Gourds and Pumpkins

Last Updated on September 13, 2025 by Sheryl Cooper

Inside: Young children like to move, and this toddler fall action art is a hit with them! Grab some mini pumpkins and/or gourds, our free printable, and paint and get started.

Whether you have busy toddlers and home or in the classroom, this painting activity is all about movement and are the perfect addition to your pumpkin theme.

This toddler fall action art is all about the process with lots of movement!

I made enough copies of the pumpkin printable for each of our toddlers and then set everything out at our art table during centers time.

When finished, we hung them in the classroom along with other fall decorations!

Toddlers are busy.

Anyone who’s hung around this age group knows that.

I get so many emails and messages asking for advice on how to manage a classroom with high energy children.

One thing I learned early on is that it’s better to go with their energy rather than trying to fight it.

This is why I love activities that allow toddlers to move larger parts of their bodies.

CLICK HERE to find 25 favorite activities for busy toddlers!

Toddler Fall Action Art With Gourds and Pumpkins

Table of Contents

Once you gather your supplies, this activity is so easy to set up!

Materials We Used

Pumpkin Printable (Scroll Down to Find Link to Download)
Red Tempera Paint
Yellow Tempera Paint
Mini Pumpkins and/or Gourds
Box Lid or Container With Sides (that is not much larger than the printable so that it’s easy to hold with two hands)

Making This Toddler Fall Action Art

I love using cardboard box lids for painting activities, but plastic containers with sides work, too.

You just want to keep in mind that a toddler will be holding both ends of the container to move it back and forth, so you want to be mindful of the size.

Place the box lids or containers on the table.

Fill shallow trays with a dollop of yellow and red paint and place a mini pumpkin or gourd inside.

Make enough copies of the pumpkin printable and place one in each box lid or container.

Toddler Fall Action Art With Gourds and Pumpkins

Get Painting!

You can invite your toddlers to sit or stand for this activity. If I have a particularly busy group of toddlers, I will remove the chairs from the art table so that the children can move their entire bodies.

Once the pumpkin or gourd is dipped into the tray of paint, set it on top of the printable.

Then, show your toddler how to hold either side of the container and gently tip back and forth to make the pumpkins and gourds move around.

This might take some getting used to and you might need to stand behind them and help them get the feel for the movement.

Invite your toddlers to notice what happens when the yellow and the red paint overlap, creating orange!

This is a fun way to work on color mixing.

In the above photo you will notice our paint is in squeeze bottles.

We purchase our paint in gallon jugs as it’s more economical, and then we pour it into the squeeze bottles and refill when necessary.

If we happen to have small paint bottles, we reuse those, too.

We don’t want to be lugging around a gallon sized paint container if we don’t have to, and these fit nicely in our classroom cabinet.

Watch: Tip for Storing Paint

Back to the activity …

Because our art center is during our free-choice centers time, children have quite a bit of time to do their art work.

With these types of process art activities, some might roll the pumpkins and gourds around for a short time while others might do it many times.

I let them decide how much time they want to spend with it.

When they are finished, remove from the box lid or container and let dry!

Adaptations

If your toddler is having a hard time maneuvering the box lid or container, you can give them something to push the pumpkins and gourds across the paper. I’ve given some of our toddlers spoons, for example.

Sometimes a toddler will abandon the tipping process and just want to use their fingers to push the gourds and pumpkins around. This is particularly fun for those who love the feeling of paint on their hands!