Pumpkin themed messy play

After picking our own pumpkin we had few small ones left , as I didn't want them to go to waste and wanted L to explore something new I started searching the Pinterest for messy play ideas or things to do with pumpkin. 
I have found mess free play with pumpkin seeds idea which I was eager to try.
I have prepared a cloth mat, a pumpkin, a carving knife, a pan and a carving scoop and tissues.
I used a carving knife to cut the top for an easy access inside the pumpkin. I let L play with slimy seeds, to scoop them out or put them in a pan.

As L likes to play with mud when in the garden principal of scooping pumpkin seeds was familiar to her. We spent possibly good 20 minutes playing until L decided that she wants to cover me in seeds.

Later in the day once eaten and cleaned I decided to try Pinterest messy free pumpkin baby play. I have found a zip lock bag, I put slimy seeds in and locked the bag. The idea is that it keep babies clean and allows to play with seeds, feel different textures and explore something new. L didn't find this idea exciting and maybe stepped on the bag couple of times and grabbed it few times and then it ended up in the pile of toys. Which made me think that maybe not everything we see on Pinterest works?! Would you agree?

Messy play with L

Few weeks ago I decided to try finger painting with L and plain flour messy play it was very messy indeed. I didn't think that L would want to scatter all paints and flour all over cloth mat and beyond it, but apparently that's what babies do. Messy play at home wasn't an option anymore but luckily our local children centre started to run messy play and off we went. 
I didn't really know what to expect from the class itself, and as L showed no interest in my edible play dough I thought it would be a disaster, I was wrong!
The class took place in our local community centre and lasted an hour. There were different sections and trays for kids to get messy in: plain flour section with brushes and toy cars, painting section with long sheets of paper, paint brushes and shaped sponges, tray with spaghetti, jelly and toy dinosaurs, tray with baked beans and toy animals and a soapy bowl with toys. 

At first I left L in her leggings, t-shirt and socks and once she had messy time in spaghetti and baked beans I took the dirty clothes off her, but left the vest on. 
L didn't bother playing with spaghetti or jelly but she loved playing and sharing toy dinosaurs with others. When it was time to try a different section L was slipping everywhere, which made me think how fun but dangerous messy play could be, but it didn't stop us. Whilst holding my hand L enjoyed splashing in baked beans, she was covered all over, I even thought that it won't be enough beans for other babies as both of us and floor were covered in it.
Once we finished with baked beans we moved to painting section where we lasted couple of minutes as L wouldn't leave paint alone, it was on her lips, hands and almost on her clothes, and just wouldn't let go of the paint pallets.

Next we moved to plain flour section where we spent most of the time. This section was very popular among smaller babies and toddlers and at one point I thought that L and older girl would have a fight over a paint brush. And that's what I don't like about kids, we adults can ask nicely but when it comes to kids they just pull the toy back and forth until someone wins. I was watching them but decided not to interrupt until I see that L is getting annoyed thankfully L didn't cry. 
Anyway L had a blast and I was happy that she enjoyed having fun with other kids! As you can imagine we didn't go home dirty, in wet clothes, we were kindly offered to take a bath which L thought was another fun session as the water was going everywhere (1 clean,happy and dry baby vs 1 dirty, wet, but happy mum)!