Checkerboard Chats: Little Vols Pumpkin Carving

The UT Knoxville Office of Alumni Affairs and Pilot presents: Little Vols Pumpkin Carving

It’s spooky season, and what better way to say “Happy Halloween” than by carving your own pumpkin! Join students from the College of Architecture + Design as they prepare two different Vol-themed stencils for you to use to create a Vol pumpkin at home! This live virtual event will feature two sessions for children in two age groups. Ages 3–6 will participate from 6–6:30 p.m., followed by a 5-minute intermission. After the brief break, children ages 7+ can try their hand at carving a Volunteer themed pumpkin. Each carving session will last approximately 30 minutes.

Prior to the session, all attendees will receive a link to the Zoom session as well as a stencil to print at home and trace onto a pumpkin. It is highly encouraged that your pumpkin be gutted and stenciled prior to the Zoom beginning, as the students will be guiding just the carving portion.

Parental supervision is requested for this activity. Safe cutting tools for your Little Vol are available at Target and Walmart.

Time Breakdown:
6–6:30 p.m. Ages 3–6
6:30–6:35 p.m. Break
6:35–7:05 p.m. Ages 7+

Pumpkin Carving Guide:
Complete the first three steps before the pumpkin carving workshop:

• Using a knife, cut out and remove the area around the stem of the pumpkin. Make sure to save it for later.
• Use a spoon to scoop out the pumpkin seeds from the interior of the pumpkin. (You can save these for roasting!)
• Print out the design that you want to carve and use toothpicks to attach the paper onto the face of your pumpkin.

Complete final three steps during the carving workshop:

• Use a small, serrated knife to carve out the black shapes in the design. Always cut away from yourself!
• When all of the pieces have been cut out, remove them from the pumpkin.
• To finish your jack-o-lantern, put a tealight inside of the pumpkin and put the top back on!