I love Fall. I love pumpkins, and leaves, and acorns, and sweaters, and bonfires, and CRAFTS!!! Crafting with kids, specifically. Fall craft possibilities are endless and in this post I’d like to share some of my personal favorites with you. This cute crow we made from plastic cups, isn’t he the sweetest thing?
The best part about Fall crafting is using what you find all around you!
Here’s a terrific craft involving freshly fallen leaves, glue, and GLITTER! Glitter makes everything better, don’t you think? Bonus: There’s science happening here! You can help your little learner identify the different leaves, their textures, and their colors. For this craft simply spread white glue onto the BACK of the leaf, press it onto construction paper, lift off the leaf, sprinkle glitter over the glue, shake off the excess and do it all over again with the next leaf. Gorgeous!
Pumpkins are abundant in the fall and can be found in every size from teeny weeny to can’t-fit-through-the-door. Aside from carving pumpkins we like to paint them as well… and add glitter! Always glitter!
Apples are another fall abundance and make great stampers. Cut them in half, dip them in paint, stamp away! Use red, green, and yellow apples as well as paint, it’s a great way to help our little ones discover all the beautiful colors apples come in and also a wonderful way to introduce, or reinforce, color recognition.
Hands, feet, fingers, arms, booty!?!?
Another thing I enjoy when crafting with kids is getting them to use as many body parts as possible. Sensory time at it’s finest. Little painty feet prints, hand prints, and yes, even the tushy are great when our darlings are infants and can’t run away! I painted that booty orange and plopped his little bottom on the paper. These make terrific keepsakes and scrapbook pages.
Getting creative is great, here are a few ideas where the parent and child can work together.
Crepe paper (or streamers) cut into small squares can be loads of fun and since they are available in a rainbow of colors, we can make virtually anything our imaginations can think up! We’ve done red and pink hearts for Valentine’s Day, green Christmas trees, turkeys for Thanksgiving, pumpkins, bats, and adorable candy corn for Halloween. Super simple craft and another great sensory experience as they scrunch up the little crepe squares and press them onto gluey shapes.
I also like to craft activities to keep little bodies busy as well as entertained. My boy and I made this fun “Mummy Bowling” set for his 2nd grade class party. Easy peasy: empty plastic bottles, little styrofoam balls, self-sticking gauze, and googly eyes. We used the roundest pumpkin we could find to bowl them over. The class had a blast!
Did you know they make pre-baked haunted gingerbread house kits for Halloween?!?!? My boy is a gingerbread house maniac so when he saw the kits in the store we HAD to do it. Now it’s a Halloween tradition just as much as the gingerbread houses we build at Christmastime. I love how the older he gets the more he can do all on his own!
When we make crafts with our children we’re spending time together, we’re sharing ideas, we’re learning, and we’re making memories that will last a lifetime.
Do you love to craft with your little people? What’s your favorite thing to make?
I liked the mummy bowling idea. All activities are pleasurable to do with my kid in home. I will try this next weekend with my kid. Thanks for sharing such great ideas!