The Pumpkin Family: A fun family game!

When you let children carve their own pumpkins, you're encouraging them to use their imagination. But did you know you can take it a step further?

I'd like to tell you about a game my family plays after we're done carving the pumpkins. It's a game that encourages even more creativity and really let's their imagination run wild. Plus, it's a great way to sneak in that extra family time.

We call this game "The Pumpkin Family". After all the pumpkins are carved, we line them up in a row. Then we pick one and bring it to the front. The first thing we do with this pumpkin is to give it a name. Usually, we stick with the first name shouted out, but sometimes there's been a lengthy discussion (after all, we can't name a witch pumpkin after Grandma). Then comes the fun part. We give this new pumpkin-person a little history. We let the kids come up with stories about how the pumpkin-person grew up, what kind of pumpkin-person they are, and so on. They usually have a blast telling all those stories. And you wouldn't believe how creative they are! When we think that pumpkin-person has had enough history, we move on to the next.

It's really a fun game. You should try it with your family.

To give you a better understanding of how it's played, I'd like you to meet our pumpkin family. I'm not going to tell the full history of each pumpkin-person, but you'll still get the main idea.

This is Wendy the Witch. She used to be a bad witch (that's why she looks so ugly). But then one day a fairy sprinkled her with "good" dust and she became a good witch and a protector of children. If she sees a child is late for school, she gives them a super-fast ride on her broomstick. If she sees a big kid being mean to a little kid, she gives that bully warts! And we think she even knows Santa Claus because if a kid tells Wendy what they want for Christmas, they always get it.

This is Pete the Peeper. When he was younger, he was in a horrible accident that messed up his face. He hasn't been outside since. All he does is sit at his window and peep outside. Sometimes kids dare each other to go knock on his door, but most are too afraid. It's said that a couple years ago, a kid knocked on his door and when Pete answered it, he grabbed the kid and pulled him inside.

That kid was never heard from again.

This is Wacky Wally. He used to be a clown with the "World Circus" (the biggest circus in the world). But then he got fired because his nose wasn't big enough. When he got fired, he lost his mind. Now he thinks he's still a clown and he thinks the neighborhood is the World Circus. He rides around in his little clown car and if you get close enough, he'll squirt you with his flower. Plus, he can pull a scarf out of his sleeve that's like 6 miles long! Sometimes, he thinks the dogs are actually lions and he tries to train them. But he just looks stupid when he puts his head in the dogs mouth.

This is Mark the Monster. He's a sneaky little monster who likes to get kids in trouble. After the kids make their beds, he go around and unmakes them. After the kids pick up all their dirty laundry, he sneaks in and throws it all back on the floor! After they do the dishes, he creeps in and gets them all dirty again. And when the kids finish their homework, he eats it!

Yep. Hearing mom yell at the kids is music to his ears. And when a kid actually gets grounded, Mark feels like he's in heaven.

This is Poor Steve. He has the worst luck! One time, he won the lottery! (but then he lost the ticket) Another time, he bought a cat to keep him company (it turned out to be a skunk). And do you know how he lost his eye? He went in for cheek surgery and the doctor messed up and removed his eye instead!

This is Freddy the Fierce!. He's nicer than he looks. He used to be a pro wrestler. He even beat John Cena! But then he decided to quit wrestling and become a fireman. Once, there was a fire at this house and none of the other firemen could get in. So Freddy used one of his old wrestling moves and broke through the wall and saved the whole family!

This is Rosy Reba. She has a great sense of humor and can tell the funniest jokes!

Knock knock!

Who's there?

Cows go.

Cows go who?

No, cows go moo!

This is Bull the Skull. He's a cowboy that wears a real cowboy hat. His favorite thing to do is to ride his skeleton horse through the desert. While he's in the desert, he catches snakes and scorpions with his bare hands and he eats them! Once, when he was in the desert, he was attacked by a bear! But he killed the bear and ate it! Even the buzzards are scared to come too close.

My husband and I love to stay up after everyone else has gone to bed and carve more pumpkins. These were a few that we carved late in the night.

Well, that's our pumpkin family (so far). I hope you had as much fun learning about them as we did creating them!

Does this sound like something you would want to do with your kids?