Okay, we probably should have made this jack o’ lantern-themed craft back in October, but it was still cute to play with here in February! With a lot of big preschooler emotions going on lately, the craft is a fantastic way to get talking about emotions, facial expressions, and sorting through the big feelings your kids might be feeling, no matter their age!

The first step is to upcycle an empty baby wipes container (the kind in a plastic bin), by covering it with orange felt.

We tried using regular school glue, but waiting for it to dry proved too much for Travis, so I hot glued the felt on.

Next, I set out craft sticks and asked him to help me brainstorm emotions. In addition to common ones (sad, happy), he said a few that made me laugh, like “when I’m waiting to play with Daddy’s camera stand.”

Next, I cut shapes out of black felt to go with the emotions we had created, and set all the pieces out in front of him.

We put our craft sticks in the top of the wipe container, and pulled one out – “surprised” was the first.

I asked Travis which mouth went with surprised, and so on. This turned into a great game not only for identifying the emotions we feel, but also what other people look like when they experience those emotions.

And of course, it’s just fun to set up the pumpkin with silly faces.

As a bonus, all of your craft sticks and felt pieces will store inside the wipe container when you’re done, ready for the next time you want to play.