Jewish [Folk]Lore
Pumpkin Carving & Painting
INTRODUCTION:
In this program participants will explore Jewish texts related to pumpkins, ghosts, and other spooky season symbols. Then participants will be invited to paint or carve pumpkins inspired by their learning!
MATERIALS:
- Printed copies of the Jewish Spin on Spooky Season Source Sheet (below)
- Pumpkins
- Paint
- Paint brushes
- Pumkin Carving Knives
- Butcher paper or tablecloths
- Speaker/Device
- Fall/Halloween Playlist
- Trash bags/compost for pumpkin insides
- Optional:
- Oven and baking sheets to roast pumpkin seeds as a snack!
- Pumpkin flavored snacks and drinks!
PROGRAM OUTLINE (~60 minutes):
- Welcome and Framing (10 minutes)
- Learning and Discussion (20 minutes)
- Pumpkin Painting/Carving (30 minutes)
Welcome and Framing (10 minutes)
- Welcome everyone and invite them to grab snacks/drinks.
- Gather everyone and share that you all will be doing a brief group (or partnered) learning on Judaism’s take on the symbols of spooky season!
Learning and Discussion (20 minutes)
- Either break the group into pairs or gather the whole group and share that they will have 20 min to read and discuss the sources and questions.
- Pass out the Jewish Spin on Spooky Season Source Sheet
- If you haven’t been learning as a full group, invite a few pairs to share out some of the things they learned/discussed.
Pumpkin Painting/Carving (30 minutes)
- Invite everyone to pick a pumpkin.
- Share that everyone will have 30 minutes (or more) to decorate or carve their pumpkins. Be sure to invite everyone to use their learning as inspiration for the symbols and designs they put on their pumpkins.
- While people are decorating their pumpkins, consider playing a fall or Halloween themed playlist:
