You know it’s October when pumpkins are everywhere. If you need some pumpkins in your classroom – this is the craft for you.
THE STORY OF THE JACK O’ LANTERN
Jack o’ lanterns are an Irish custom from the 1600s.
They have an origin in an Irish folktale about a man named Stingy Jack. He was a bad guy who was not allowed into heaven. He was so bad that he was banished from hell, too. He was cursed to walk the earth for eternity with nothing but a carved turnip to light his way.
The people of Ireland would carve scary faces into turnips or potatoes and place them in their windows to scare away Stingy Jack.
Irish people who came to America brought their customs and folktales with them. Americans began carving faces into pumpkins to scare away bad spirits.