Elephant and Piggie Pumpkins

Elephant and Piggie are a very popular duo in our house. We were introduced to Mo Willems by Andy’s, Aunt Toots. She brought Maxwell 2 books as a gift when he was a baby.  Nowadays, Mo Willems books are my go to for birthday gifts! The books are simple, cute, and fun for kids and parents. I teamed up with Disney-Hyperion and Mo Willems for a 3 part series featuring exciting new Mo Willems books.

First up, Elephant and Piggie have an Art-ivity book! It’s called We Are in an ART-ivity Book and it just came out last month!

The new Art-ivity book stars Elephant, Piggie and YOU!

To commemorate the occasion Max and I decided to do our own “Art-ivity” and make Elephant and Piggie pumpkins for Halloween! If you want to make your own, here’s what you need:

• 2 ghost pumpkins (One larger than the other)
• Coral Rust-oleum spray paint
• Cardboard (I used diaper boxes, shocker!)
• Black and white acrylic paint
• Stiff grey felt
• A hot glue gun
• XACTO knife
• Sharpie marker
• Cutting board

First, spray paint the small ghost pumpkin with the coral spray paint. While you and the kids (patiently) wait for the pumpkin to dry start cutting out the cardboard pieces for Elephant and Piggie’s faces.

I like to think in simple shapes. For Piggie’s face you need: 2 small ovals (eyes), 1 large oval (snout), 2 small triangles (ears), 2 small moons (eyebrows), and one large moon shape (mouth). For the cardboard parts of Elephant’s face, you need 2 small circles (eyes), 2 long skinny rectangles (glasses), one small skinny rectangle (glasses), and a large moon (mouth). Paint every thing black except for the large oval (snout), the 2 triangles (ears) and the 2 small circles for Elephant (eyes). Elephant’s eyes need to be painted white and Piggie’s snout and ears need a coat of coral spray paint.

Now, it’s time to cut out Elephant’s ears and snout from the thin, stiff grey felt. The shape you cut will ultimately be determined by the shape of the pumpkin you bought. I suggest starting with an elongated rainbow shape. Next, place the rainbow shape where it belongs on the pumpkin and determine how much you need to trim to ensure the ears fit snuggly around the pumpkin.

Use a Sharpie marker to add a black rim around each of Gerald’s eyes to make glasses and add 2 lines on Piggie’s snout. The last step is to hot glue all of the pieces in place! How cute are Elephant and Piggie in pumpkin form?

Piggie and Elephant Gerald pumpkins can watch the kids work on their new Art-ivity book before they make their way to the front stoop for Halloween! The Art-ivity book it proving to be a lot of fun for my 3.5 year old. He likes to work on his book while sister is napping because she “colors too much”. (I think he is referring to the fact that she likes to scribble from book to table and back!)

On page 2 you meet Art Vaark, “the guide through 144 pages of games, activities, and projects!” If you look closely, you might be able to make out Maxwell’s family portrait. He started with his self portrait but decided to add Mommy, Daddy, and “Me-wah”. We’re the thin black lines with lots of “legs”. The 4 black scribbles are our eyes, obviously.

The Art-ivity book is filled with drawing activities, sculptures, games, collages, and even a Mo-bile! Bottom line, if Elephant and Piggie are a hit in your house, the new We are in an Art-ivity Book is a must!