The Adorable Collaborative Pumpkin Art Project Your Classroom Needs This Year

Looking for some pumpkin art ideas this fall?

This pumpkin art project embraces the artistic style of pop art and makes a great time of fun and learning for my students. As with most of the activities I do with my students, I like to use a holistic approach that incorporates much more than art. In this pumpkin project, your students will learn about pop art artists, read a story, and use an image common during the fall season - a pumpkin!

What is pop art?

In a nutshell, pop art is an art style based on bold, yet simple images of everyday items. These images are then painted in bright colors. This particular movement came about to blur the boundaries between high art and low culture, and to raise awareness that art doesn’t have to follow one particular style.

Pop art has become an influential movement because it has been able to connect fine art in a way that is relatable to people. Through common imagery, such as product labels, comic strips, or photos of celebrities, artists combine bold colors and irony to create incredible pieces.

How to Teach Pop Art to Kids

For starters, introduce students to what pop art is. Use a basic definition for easy understanding followed by visual cards to drive the point home. You can also give a little history of how and where pop art came from. It’s also a great idea to teach them about a few artists who are famous for using pop art. A few to consider are:

• Roy Litchenstein

• Richard Hamilton

• Alex Katz

• Yayoi Kusama

• Takashi Murakami

Once you’ve laid the foundation of what pop art is, you’re ready to lead the children in an activity to create their own pop art. For your activity you can pick something relevant to the season like pumpkins, or you can choose something totally different. You can also let the students decide.

Pop Art Collaborative Pumpkin Art Project

For the pumpkin art project, you’ll need the following supplies:

• Pumpkin cutouts

• Paint

• Classroom objects (pencil erasers, glue containers, rippled border, paper towels, cap erasers, plate edges, plastic cups, and dice)

Before beginning the activity, I read a story called “It’s Pumpkin Time,” then put students in pairs to discuss the main idea and key details. They then transferred some of their brainstormed details onto torn paper. 

Once we finished doing that, they were given pumpkin cutouts to paint. When they were divided and painted, the students then used the classroom objects to create different sections of designs and “pop” art. After the designs were painted and pressed, students stamped construction paper, and then used the tear art process to glue them to their details. 

When they finished with their pumpkins, they were sealed with a glaze to dry.

I really enjoy using seasonal art projects, and I like to keep easy-to-prep art projects around for sub plans or for early finishers. This pumpkin art project includes a hand-drawn game sheet, which students will use to build their pumpkin. It also includes a comprehension passage and finished example. If you need a simple and easy to use pumpkin art idea, this is the one!