Explore mixing secondary colors while making this adorable paper plate pumpkin craft.

Materials needed for this pumpkin craft….

You’ll need some washable, kid friendly paint for this.  Of course, you could start with whatever color you like.   We started with only the primary colors- red, yellow, and blue- but we’ll talk more about that in minute!

You’ll need one paper plate per pumpkin.  Any size will do,  The templates I provided are for six and nine inch plates but they’re easy to adjust. Inexpensive paper plates, the flimsy kind, are perfect for this!

Grab a few basics like a pencil, scissors, and a stapler.  If you want your pumpkins to have three dimensional stems fuzzy pipe cleaners are perfect for this! We used green and brown but any colors will work!

Paint your plates….

It makes sense to start with the painting step.  That way the paint can be drying while you prepare your templates.

We got a little imaginative with the palette for this pumpkin craft.  Instead of plain, straight out of the bottle orange pumpkins I supplied small plates with pairs of complementary colors.  I love using any opportunity to explore color mixing. Any color that is hand mixed will be more interesting, have more variation, and more depth that a bottled color.

Choose any two primary colors to mix together and paint the entire back of the paper plate. Be sure to paint the back because that’s the portion that will show when the pumpkin is folded up into a three dimensional shape. Set aside to dry.

paper plate pumpkin craft with secondary color mixing exercise

Applying the template…

Directions for grabbing templates are below.  There are two sizes, one for a six inch plate and one for a nine inch plate. Because of that larger nine inch size these will need to be printed on larger 11 x 17 paper. Cut the template out and trace onto your paper plate.  I like to put it on the front, unpainted part of the paper plate so that no pencil marks show.

Cut away the extra pie shaped pieces and throw those away.

Make room for a future stem by poking a super small hole with an X-Acto knife- right in the center of the paper plate.  This makes a spot to add in the stem and leaves of the pumpkin.

paper plate pumpkin craft with secondary color mixing exercise

Make your paper plate pumpkin three dimensional….

Start by pulling two opposite “arms” up to meet in the center.  Staple now or pull up a couple of more strips and staple them all at once. Continue until all the arms meet in the center and your paper plate pumpkin craft is totally round.

Flip that pumpkin over so that the top is smooth and all of the connections meet at the bottom of pumpkin.

Grab a pipe cleaner or two.  We used a length of brown doubled up for the stem .  Next we wrapped a short length of green around the stem and curled each side around a pencil for a curly, vine-y look.

Poke the pipe cleaner through the whole you already poked for a cute little stem!

paper plate pumpkin craft with secondary color mixing exercise

Want to get a free printable template to make your own paper plate pumpkin….

I’ve got a 6 inch and 9 inch template to make this pumpkin craft super easy- and it’s FREE for my subscribers.  Just use the form below to subscribe.  Then head to your inbox to confirm that you do want to be a KTC subscriber. Upon confirmation you’ll immediately receive the PDF for both pumpkin craft templates!

As a KTC subscriber you’ll also get a subscriber only password that will give you instant access to my Free Resource Library.

The Resource Library is a great place to go to browse the hundreds of other printables in my library- all free for you!

You’ll also begin to receive my weekly emails with my newest ideas, holiday resources, and fun printable prompts.

Are you already a KTC subscriber….

If you’re already a subscriber you can still follow the same process as above to grab your pumpkin craft template. It’s a fast and easy way to get your free download.

As always this template is also available in my Free Resource Library.

paper plate pumpkin craft with secondary color mixing exercise

If you enjoyed this paper plate pumpkin craft I hope you’ll share it with a friend!

Every single share helps me to bring you more fun projects and free printable resources!Growing a Growth Mindset Through the Creative Arts