The Pumpkin Full of Pennies

The Pumpkin Full of Pennies
Tricks, Tricks, Tricks. I love playing tricks, especially on kids. I like playing tricks on kids because the tricks almost always work. You see, when you are a kid, you are constantly trying to figure stuff out. Almost anything is new to them. As soon as they learn to walk, you give them a tricycle. As soon as they learn to ride a tricycle, you give them a bike. As soon as they learn to ride a bike, I tell them to ride it on the roof of the house. I love kids.

Pumpkins and pumpkin patches are almost always a mystery to kids. Unless you grow up on a farm, the idea that pumpkins come up from the ground is quite strange. Where else is a kid going to see dirt, water and sunlight turned into a large orange globe. Nowhere. It is no surprise then, to find that a kid has ABSOLUTELY no idea what is inside a pumpkin. That is why I like to put all sorts of strange things inside a pumpkin and then give it to a kid.

Pennies are a good thing to put inside a pumpkin. Kids like money and they like to think about it, but they hardly know where it comes from originally. The idea that the government makes the money is almost unexplainable. It would make more sense to them if pennies actually grew in the pumpkin patch. That is why I fill pumpkins with pennies whenever a 6-8 year old comes over to carve pumpkins. Here is how.

You’ll need:
• A pumpkin
• A knife, drywall saw, or jigsaw
• A whole bunch of pennies
• Patience


Find a divot or crease in the back of the pumpkin. Look for a place where a slot could be cut without becoming obvious.

Cut a slot in this location. Make the slot no larger than the side of a penny.

Insert coins. One after the other using the second coin to push the first one all the way into the pumpkin’s cavity. Watch some TV, relax, bake a cake, whatever you want to do, just keep putting those coins into the pumpkin. Force the last penny in using the blad of your knife or saw.

Hide the slot using some dirt, grass or pumpkin guts.

Give the pumpkin to your unsuspecting guest and pretend nothing unusual is happening.
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