Fall Crafts for Kids: Leaves, Pumpkins and Acorns

Autumn is a crafter's dream: crunchy leaves, pine cones, acorns and conkers are free and everywhere. These fall crafts start with a nature walk and end with decorations, gifts and keepsakes. They suit ages 3 to 10, and most need only glue, paper and what you collect outside.

Start with a nature walk

Take a bag or a basket on a walk and collect:

• Leaves in different colors, shapes and sizes
• Pine cones, acorns and conkers (horse chestnuts)
• Small sticks and twigs
• Seeds such as sycamore "helicopters"
• Feathers and interesting bark

Tip: press leaves flat between sheets of newspaper under heavy books for a few days. Flat leaves are much easier to glue and won't crumble as fast.

Leaf crafts

1. Leaf rubbings. Place a leaf under thin paper, vein side up, and rub with the side of a crayon. Try different colors for each leaf.
2. Leaf animals. Glue leaves onto paper to make a hedgehog, a fox or an owl, then add eyes and legs with a pen.
3. Leaf crown. Staple leaves onto a strip of card sized to fit your child's head.
4. Leaf suncatcher. Arrange leaves on sticky contact paper, cover with another sheet and cut into a circle. Tape to a window.
5. Leaf garland. Punch holes in pressed leaves and thread them on string.
6. Leaf sorting. Sort leaves by color, size or shape, then make a simple picture graph.

Pine cone and nature crafts

1. Pine cone owls. Glue felt or paper eyes, a beak and wings onto a pine cone.
2. Pine cone bird feeders. Roll a pine cone in seed butter (or peanut butter if there are no allergies), then in birdseed. Hang it outside with string.
3. Acorn faces. Draw tiny faces on acorns with a fine marker.
4. Stick weaving. Tie three sticks into a triangle and weave wool around it, adding leaves and feathers.
5. Nature collage. Glue everything you found onto card to make a picture or a pattern.

More ideas: nature crafts for kids.

Paper crafts

1. Paper plate wreath. Cut the middle out of a paper plate and glue leaves all around the rim.
2. Handprint tree. Paint your child's arm and hand brown to make a tree trunk and branches, then add fingerprint leaves in red, orange and yellow.
3. Torn-paper pumpkins. Tear orange paper into small pieces and glue them inside a pumpkin outline. It's brilliant for little fingers.
4. Scarecrow puppets. Color a scarecrow, cut it out and tape it to a lolly stick.
5. Fall coloring. Color nature pages with trees, leaves and acorns in autumn colors, and Thanksgiving pages with pumpkins and harvest scenes.

Learning with autumn crafts

• Science: why do leaves change color? (Trees stop making green chlorophyll as days get shorter, so other colors show through.)
• Counting: count acorns and conkers into groups of ten.
• Measuring: line up leaves from smallest to largest and measure them. Try our measurement worksheets.
• Writing: write autumn words like crunchy, golden, crisp and windy.

Ideas by age

Ages 3–4: leaf rubbings, torn-paper pumpkins, simple collages and painting with leaves as stamps.

Ages 5–7: leaf animals, pine cone owls, wreaths and crowns.

Ages 8–10: stick weaving, detailed leaf garlands, nature journals and bird feeders.

Safety notes

• Wash hands after handling nature finds.
• Teach children not to eat berries, seeds or mushrooms they find.
• Conkers are not edible and can make people ill if eaten.
• Check bird-feeder ingredients for allergies.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Using fresh leaves straight away. They curl and crumble as they dry. Press them first.
• Too much glue. A glue stick or small dabs of PVA glue work best.
• Taking too much from nature. Take only fallen items and leave some for animals.

Frequently asked questions

How do I preserve autumn leaves?

Press them between sheets of newspaper under heavy books for a week. For brighter colors, seal them with contact paper.

What are the easiest fall crafts for toddlers?

Leaf rubbings, torn-paper pumpkins and sticking leaves onto contact paper.

What can we do with conkers and acorns?

Count them, sort them, draw faces on them or use them in collages. Don't let children eat them.

An autumn craft plan

• Week 1: a nature walk to collect leaves, pine cones and acorns. Press the leaves.
• Week 2: leaf rubbings, leaf animals and a leaf crown.
• Week 3: pine cone owls and a bird feeder.
• Week 4: a paper plate wreath and a handprint tree.

End the month with an autumn display on a shelf or windowsill.

What are autumn colors?

Red, orange, yellow, gold, brown and deep purple. Try coloring autumn pages using only these colors.

Why do leaves fall in autumn?

As days get shorter and colder, many trees drop their leaves to save water and energy for winter.