Halloween is fast approaching and you may be wondering what to do to celebrate since parties are probably not going to be happening as much this year.

Carving pumpkins is a classic Halloween tradition that gives you something festive to do while practicing safe social distancing. But in case you do not want to carve a pumpkin, here are a few ideas of ways to decorate a pumpkin instead. 

Fingerprint pumpkin painting: This is a simple, easy way to decorate a pumpkin if you don’t feel like carving it. You can use your finger to paint a ghost or a pumpkin. 

You will need: a fine tipped paint brush, orange, black and green acrylic paint and a pumpkin of any size.

Paint your thumb orange then press it onto the pumpkin. Do this all over the pumpkin, leaving a little bit of space in between each pumpkin. 

Wait until they dry and then paint jack-o’-lantern faces on them as well as a stem at the top of each pumpkin. If you want, you can draw a vine coming out of the stems with the green paint. 

To paint the ghosts on the pumpkin, paint your thumb white then press it onto the pumpkin, the same way, leaving a little bit of space in between each one. Wait until they dry, then go in with the black paint and paint faces on the ghosts. 

Message Pumpkins: For this you will need: a pumpkin, any color of paint you want (black would be festive) and a paint pen (any color, as long as it shows up on the paint color you’ve chosen.) 

Paint the pumpkin the color of paint you chose then wait for it to dry. Once it’s dry, write whatever you want the message to be with the paint pen. 

Spider in a Web Pumpkin: For this you will need a large pumpkin, masking tape, spray paint paint (whatever color you want), a small paintbrush and a plastic spider. 

Tear the tape into long strips then place them on the pumpkin to create a spider web pattern on the pumpkin. Then, spray paint all over the pumpkin. Let it dry and then peel the tape off the pumpkin, revealing your spider web pattern. 

Lastly, touch up the gaps in the paint if you want. Glue the spider onto the pumpkin. 

Even though your holiday may look a bit different this year, remember to stay safe while also having fun.