A scarecrow with a pumpkin for a head? Yes, please. This pumpkin head scarecrow craft mixes two of the best parts of fall into one seriously cute project. Early elementary kids can make their own in about 20–30 minutes, and that big jack-o’-lantern grin is hard to resist.

This one fits right in with our fall crafts, especially when pumpkins and harvest themes start taking over the classroom. There are so many ways to use those familiar fall characters without every project looking the same.

Collage showing completed pumpkin head scarecrows and steps for assembling the fall craft.

Good To Know

Themes: Pumpkins, scarecrows, fall, harvest
Activity: Build a scarecrow with a jack-o’-lantern head, patched clothing, fringed straw, hat, and wooden post
Template: Includes a free printable pumpkin scarecrow craft template with separate clothing, hat, straw, and face pieces
Ages: Preschool through early elementary
Time: 20–30 minutes
Skills: Cutting, gluing, and fine motor practice

Printable Fall Character Craft With Fine Motor Practice

Kids can choose different colors for the scarecrow’s shirt and patches, so even when everyone starts with the same basic pieces, the finished scarecrows don’t have to match. And honestly, the pumpkin head already gives this one plenty of personality.

There’s some really good scissor practice tucked into the straw, too. Kids make all those little snips along the sleeves and bottom of the shirt, then work on placing and gluing the smaller face and patch pieces where they belong.

Even with all those details, the big paper shapes keep the assembly manageable for early elementary kids. Once the pieces are cut, they can concentrate on building that funny pumpkin face and putting their scarecrow together.

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Supplies

Colored cardstock or construction paper
Scissors
Glue
Crayola Bold & Bright markers
Marker
Pumpkin head scarecrow template (click the “click here to get your freebies” image at the end of the post)

Directions

Start by printing the template, then gather the materials for this fun activity. Get those scissors ready, and let’s help the kids bring this scarecrow to life!

Hands holding a printable template for the Pumpkin Head Scarecrow Craft.

Begin with the pumpkin head. Glue the eyes onto the pumpkin face, below the eyebrows.

Hands attaching an eye to the pumpkin head for the scarecrow craft.

Use a pink bold & bright marker to add a small circle to each cheek. This little pop of color gives the pumpkin a cute, cheerful expression.

Hands drawing details on the face of a pumpkin for a Pumpkin Head Scarecrow Craft.

Take the hat and glue it across the top of the pumpkin head. Line up the bottom of the hat with the upper part of the pumpkin so it sits just above the eyebrows.

Hands placing a hat on top of the pumpkin head.

Glue the hat patch onto the hat. Kids can place it at a slight angle to give their scarecrow a fun, handmade look.

Hands attaching a patch to the scarecrow hat above the pumpkin head.

Use a black marker to draw short stitch lines around the edges of the hat patch. This is an easy way for kids to add their own details while getting in a little fine motor practice.

Hands drawing stitch details around the patch on the scarecrow hat.

Glue the completed pumpkin head to the top center of the shirt. Press it down firmly so the bottom of the pumpkin overlaps the upper part of the shirt.

Hands attaching the pumpkin head to the top of the scarecrow body.

Take the shirt patch and glue it at the bottom center of the shirt. Just like the hat patch, it can be turned slightly to make the scarecrow look extra playful.

Hands attaching a patch to the center of the scarecrow’s shirt.

Use the black marker again to draw short stitch lines around the shirt patch. Kids can take their time adding each little line around the edges.

Hands drawing details on the scarecrow body below the pumpkin head.

Grab the arm straw and shirt straw pieces. Carefully cut short fringe lines along one edge of each piece, making sure not to cut all the way through. These fringed pieces will give the scarecrow its classic straw look.

Hands cutting fringe into a paper straw piece for the scarecrow craft.

Glue the shirt straw along the bottom of the shirt. Position it so the fringed edge peeks out underneath the shirt, just like straw coming out of a scarecrow’s clothes.

Hands assembling the pumpkin head scarecrow with a patched shirt and straw detail.

Glue an arm straw piece to the end of each arm so the fringed edges stick out from the sides.

Hands attaching straw pieces to the ends of the scarecrow’s arms.

Gently push and bend the fringed shirt straw pieces upward with your fingers to give them a little texture and make the straw look more dimensional.

Hands holding a completed pumpkin head scarecrow with a patched shirt and straw details.

Finish the craft by gluing the stick to the back of the scarecrow, and it’s complete! This fall activity gives kids a fun way to practice cutting, gluing, and fine motor skills while creating their own pumpkin scarecrow.

Keep the fall fun going with the related crafts and activities below. They’re easy to mix into a fall lesson plan, pumpkin theme, scarecrow unit, or afternoon of seasonal fun.

Hands holding a completed pumpkin head scarecrow with a patched hat, shirt, and straw details.

For an easier option with less cutting, use the full-color version or the color-in version.
Library Pairing: Pair the craft with a fall or scarecrow picture book, then have kids describe how their scarecrow is similar to or different from the one in the story.

Fall Books for Children

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves: The mischievous old lady swallowed a handful of leaves! Her tummy started to rumble. So she swallowed some more items. Then, even more. But as her stomach grew full, the leaves began to poke out through her mouth… when suddenly – poofffff! – it turned into a scarecrow!

Pete The Cat Falling For Autumn: Pete is not a fan of fall. But he decides to do some detective work and finds out that there are many things about this season he loves, like corn mazes, hayrides, wearing scarves, and apple picking! This story helps kids learn that even though they might not love every season of the year, there are still good parts to each one.

We’re Going On A Leaf Hunt: The seasons are changing, the days are getting shorter, and children everywhere are starting to make plans for their favorite outdoor adventures – and what could be more fun than a Leaf Hunt?!

Harvest Themed Crafts

Fork Painted Scarecrow Craft – The painted straw is what makes this one different. Kids use a fork to stamp and drag paint into those wispy straw pieces before adding the scarecrow’s face and clothes. Using a fork instead of a paintbrush makes the painting part WAY more interesting.

Pumpkin Shape Craft – That curled little vine is such a good finishing detail on this pumpkin. Kids build the pumpkin from simple shapes, then can wrap the vine around a pencil before gluing it in place. It’s a small step, but it changes the whole look of the pumpkin.

Indian Corn Craft – Dot markers get to become corn kernels with this idea, which is already a pretty good reason to make it. Kids fill the corn with colorful dots before adding the husk and goofy little face.

Handprint Fall Tree – Instead of using just a handprint, kids trace their hand, wrist, and forearm for the activity. It makes such a good tree shape! Then they can scatter colorful leaves across the branches and along the ground.

Fall Activities for Kids

Finding all the S’s in a maze feels much more like solving a puzzle than working on letter recognition. The squirrel worksheets include a letter maze along with a cut-and-paste page where kids figure out where labels like tail, ear, and foot belong on the squirrel.

Have a bushel of fun while building important skills with these apple activity pages. Kids will count apples and fill in a graph to practice early math, match identical apples to strengthen visual discrimination, guide a caterpillar through a maze for problem solving practice, and pair apples with their shadows to build shape recognition and visual processing. They’re a sweet way to add some apple themed learning to a fall preschool lesson.

A completed Craft showing a pumpkin head scarecrow with a patched hat, shirt, straw details, and paper stick.

There’s something really satisfying about figuring out what comes next and then getting to cut out the answer yourself. With the fall pattern worksheets, kids study the autumn pictures, choose the missing piece, and glue it into the pattern.

Give kids a smiling pumpkin and a dot marker and they’re probably not going to need much convincing. These pumpkin do a dots include a page kids can cover in dots, plus activities built around the letter P and numbers. It’s fall practice with a LOT more stamping involved.

Did you make this activity with your kids or students? We’d love to feature them on our social media!

For a chance to have your child’s project featured, simply snap a picture of the completed project and post it to our Facebook page, email it to us directly by clicking here, or use #simpleeverydaymom on your social media!

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