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Halloween is fast approaching, and unlike dressing up or begging for candy from strangers, carving pumpkins is a fun and wholesome activity for all ages. To do it right, of course, you'll need the proper tools. Here's everything you'll need to carve a pumpkin with your kids (or by yourself!) this Halloween.
If you want actually useful, multi-purpose kitchen tools:
There are a lot of specific pumpkin carving kits you can buy, but if you don't want a set of hyper specific tools that you'll have to store and pull out of the depths of your storage closet next year (if you're me they'll just end up lost), here are multi-purpose kitchen tools you can use year-round. (It's a good idea to buy the cheap tools for your kids to use if they're little, and you can swoop in and help out with these more effective adult kitchen tools.)
To carve your pumpkin, and especially for the part where you cut the top off, you're going to need a good, sturdy serrated knife. We like this one from OXO that's likely to be stronger and sharper than anything you'll get in a plastic carving kit. Plus, you'll be able to use this serrated utility knife for a multitude of purposes in the kitchen, like cutting delicate tomatoes without crushing them, long after Halloween is over.
BUY IT: OXO Good Grips Professional 5-Inch Serrated Utility Knife, $14.99 on Amazon
For more intricate knife work, like carving your jack-o-lanterns little teeth, you'll need a smaller knife that's easy to maneuver in tight corners. A good paring knife will work well if you want something you can use outside of the month of October. This one from Kuhn Rikon is inexpensive, but sharp and reliable.
BUY IT: Kuhn Rikon 4-Inch Nonstick Colori Paring Knife, $9.95 on Amazon
For scooping out pumpkin guts, an ice cream scoop works wonders. Especially these newer models that are shaped like a spade and have a sharp edge. That sharp edge will come in handy scraping out the guts from the side of the pumpkin. And, again, you won't simply toss this tool away until next year. You can use it for scooping ice cream any old time.
BUY IT: Wilton 2104-1014 Ice Cream Scoop, Multicolor $7.49 on Amazon
Fun pumpkin carving kits and tools for kids
If you want to simply buy one kit that includes everything, this is your kit. It includes a small saw tool, a scooper, and a small drilling tool. Its tools are sturdier and higher quality than many of the cheap plastic kits you can buy. The smaller tools will be easier for kids to manage and less dangerous than real knives—and they're also safer since the tools won't fling apart and put kids at risk of flying blades. The kit also includes an e-book of stencils you can use to carve creative pumpkins.
This book of stencils for your pumpkin includes 10 options, including a cat, a ghost, and an alien. It's good to go into your pumpkin carving with a plan. These stencils will give your kids guidelines and ideas for pumpkin carving—even if you just use them as a jumping off point.
BUY IT: Ultimate Pumpkin Stencil Book, $9.16 on Amazon
And, it never hurts to get two stencil books so you have lots of options. This one includes 12 options, like a witch, a bat, Dracula, and some bats.
BUY IT: The Perfect Pumpkin Stencil Book, $8.48 on Amazon
If you want to be extra creative, you and your kids can make your own patterns for carving. Kids can use tracing paper to trace characters from their favorite picture books or coloring books—or they can simply draw their own design—and then attach the tracing paper to the pumpkin using tape. Then, they can carve the shape right through the paper.
BUY IT: Darice 9-Inch-by-12-Inch Tracing Paper, 100-Sheets, $5.77 on Amazon
You don't have to carve pumpkins. Painting them is super fun, too. Especially if you have glow-in-the-dark paint that will shine on your front porch on Halloween night.
BUY IT: DecoArt DS50-10 Glow-in-the-Dark Paint, 4-Ounce, $9.05 on Amazon
For People Who Don't Mess Around
This is a special attachment for your drill that gets in there, and with the kind of power only available on heavy machinery, absolutely goes to town scraping away the pumpkin guts. Don't toil away clearing out your pumpkins: be efficient with this tool that'll make your jack-o-lanterns the envy of the neighborhood.
BUY IT: Dakota Products PG001 Pumpkin Gutter & Carving Tool, $8.50 on Amazon
For Lighting up Your Pumpkin
It's possible to buy little tea lights in huge quantities on Amazon for not much money, like this set that's available in a pack of 100 or 300. Think of all of the pumpkins you could carve with this many lights. In fact, let's make it a challenge: carve as many pumpkins as there are tea lights in this pack. You better start RIGHT now, as Halloween is less than two weeks away.
BUY IT: 100 Tea Lights Set - White - Unscented Candles, $11.99 on Amazon
If you prefer not to have any kind of fire risk, you can go with electric tea lights for lighting your pumpkin. These fancy ones have a timer and a remote control, so you can schedule them to turn off when you want to signal to those pesky neighborhood middle schoolers that you're closed for business when they try to go trick or treating at 9pm.
BUY IT: Candle Choice Set of 2 LED Pumpkin Lights with Remote and Timer, $19.99 on Amazon
Or, make your pumpkin glow in green or purple with these multi-colored electric tea lights!
For Roasting the Pumpkin Seeds
If you don't roast the pumpkin seed loot from your carving, you're totally missing out on one of the best parts of the whole experience. (Here's how to roast pumpkin seeds.) Though it's very simple and requires few tools, you'll need to make sure you have a colander for rinsing them. We like this affordable one with a base that will sit nicely in your sink while you rinse.
BUY IT: ExcelSteel 242 5-Quart Stainless Steel Colander, $9.75 on Amazon
Be honest with yourself: has your sheet pan gotten a little worse for the wear? How long have you had that thing? Does it have weird stuff baked onto the bottom? Is it kind of greasy? Treat yourself to a new sheet pan this fall so you can roast pumpkin seeds happily and endlessly.
BUY IT: Nordic Ware Natural Aluminum Commercial Baker's Half Sheet, $12.99 on Amazon
