Autumn Craft with Kids
I haven’t done craft since the time I was little. Then, I had my daughter and suddenly found myself enjoying craft together more than ever before. I love the creative process when we share ideas with my girl, and I get a glimpse into how she sees the world. And autumn is such an inspiration with the bright coloured leaves and berries everywhere. There are so many fun things that can be done with the leaves. Here is what we’ve done this autumn.
Animal heads
We used toilet roll centerpieces cut in half. My daughter chose the leaves for ears, and we came up with animals we were going to make. We used glue to attach the ears - my daughter could do it herself. But also I fixed them with transparent tape so they stay in place. Then I drew the face features, and my girl chose colours and painted the faces. After that playtime! Nothing can beat the enjoyment of role-playing for my daughter, so part two has been absolutely essential to every craft project we have done so far!
Leaves garland
Painting leaves was real fun! I tried to convert them to animals, but my girl just got carried away and painted with pleasure. Some tips, that may seem obvious after we’ve done it: large and yellow leaves are much better for painting. Red leaves look pretty by themselves but really limit the colours that work on them.
After painting, we thought of bunting, and so my daughter selected the leaves she liked the most, and we spent time learning how to do knots together. The result is a beautiful garland for our hallway. It reminds us of the golden autumn on rainy days.
Pictures in the park
This fun craft activity can be done in the park/garden or anywhere outdoors. My daughter had a bucket, and we walked around collecting all the gifts of nature we could use. She really enjoyed that part and loved finding things and putting them into her bucket.
We then decided to make faces. My girl suggested that one will be happy and one sad, and so we did. Hopefully, other visitors to the park enjoyed the picture when they found it. We certainly had fun making it together!
What are your favourite things to do with the autumn leaves?
Most of the ideas for this year’s autumn craft came from the book: “The Gruffalo Autumn and Winter Nature Trail“, Julia Donaldson. I love this book and very much recommend for nature exploring.
