Autumn is one of the best times of year for getting creative. The trees are changing colour, conkers are dropping, pinecones are scattered across the ground and there are plenty of natural materials waiting to be turned into something fun.
Better still, autumn crafts do not need to involve buying lots of expensive supplies. A walk around your local park or woodland can double up as a treasure hunt for your next craft session.
Whether you are looking for something to keep younger children occupied, an activity for older children or simply an excuse to get creative together as a family, here are some easy autumn craft ideas using things you can find outdoors.
Before You Start: Go On An Autumn Treasure Hunt
Half the fun is collecting your materials.
Grab a bag or basket and head outside to see what you can find. Look for fallen leaves in different colours and shapes, conkers, pinecones, acorns, twigs and other interesting natural materials.
Encourage children to look closely at what they find. Which leaf is the biggest? How many different colours can they spot? Can they find a perfectly round conker or an unusually shaped twig?
Remember to collect responsibly. Stick to items that have already fallen rather than pulling leaves, berries or branches from living plants, and only take a small amount so there is plenty left for wildlife.
Once you get home, give everything a quick check for dirt, insects and anything particularly damp before bringing it to the craft table.
Make Leaf People And Animals
Different leaf shapes can quickly become ears, wings, tails, dresses, hair and all sorts of other features.
Arrange your leaves on a piece of paper or card before gluing them down. Children could create a leaf person, butterfly, hedgehog, owl, fox or completely imaginary creature.
Add details with pens, paint, googly eyes, scraps of paper or whatever else you already have in your craft supplies.
There is no right or wrong way to do it. A wonky leaf fox with enormous ears is every bit as good as a carefully planned masterpiece!
Try Leaf Rubbings
Leaf rubbing is a classic autumn activity for a reason: it is incredibly simple and produces lovely results.
Place a leaf underneath a sheet of paper with the veins facing upwards. Gently rub over the paper using the side of a crayon and watch the shape and details of the leaf gradually appear.
Try using several different leaves and autumnal colours to create a whole picture. Older children could overlap different leaf shapes or experiment with patterns, while younger children can simply enjoy watching their hidden leaf appear.
Print With Leaves
Leaves can also become natural printing tools.
Paint one side of a leaf, press it firmly onto paper and carefully peel it away. Different types of leaves will create different shapes and textures, so experiment with several varieties.
You could use reds, oranges, yellows and browns for a traditional autumn picture, or forget the season entirely and use every colour you can find.
Leaf printing can be used to make pictures, homemade cards, bookmarks or even wrapping paper.
Turn Conkers Into Little Characters
Conkers are brilliant for making tiny autumn characters.
Paint them, add googly eyes or create little faces with permanent markers. Scraps of felt, wool, paper or pipe cleaners can become hats, hair, arms and accessories.
You could make a whole family of conker people, tiny woodland creatures or monsters.
For younger children, avoid activities that involve making holes in conkers and supervise carefully, as conkers and small craft materials can be a choking hazard.
Make Pinecone Creatures
Take a look at a pinecone and see what creature it reminds you of.
With a little imagination, pinecones can become hedgehogs, owls, spiders, turkeys, fairies or strange woodland monsters.
Use card or felt to make features such as wings, ears and feet, then add paint or googly eyes. You could even give each creature a name and create a woodland scene for them using leaves and twigs.
Create An Autumn Collage
If you have collected a little bit of everything, bring it together in one big autumn collage.
Start with a sturdy piece of card and arrange leaves, small twigs and other lightweight natural materials into a picture or pattern. You could make a woodland scene, an autumn tree, an animal or an abstract design.
Children can also add paint, crayons, stickers and other craft materials to make their collage completely their own.
Make A Leaf Crown
Who needs a plastic crown when autumn provides the decorations for free?
Cut a strip of card long enough to fit comfortably around your child’s head and let them decorate it with fallen leaves. Look for different colours, sizes and shapes to make each crown unique.
Once everything is securely attached and the glue has dried, fasten the ends of the card together.
You now have an autumn king, queen, prince, princess or ruler of the leaves!
Create An Autumn Wreath
Wreaths are not just for Christmas.
Cut a large ring from sturdy cardboard and decorate it with autumn leaves, pinecones, acorns, ribbons, paper shapes or anything else you have collected. Natural materials can be combined with craft supplies to add more colour and texture.
Hang your finished wreath indoors as an autumn decoration, or make a new one later in the year to see how the colours and materials change with the seasons.
Make A Nature Picture Frame
Collect small leaves, tiny pinecones, twigs and other natural treasures and use them to decorate a simple cardboard picture frame.
You could put a favourite family photo inside, display a picture your child has drawn or add a photograph from your autumn walk.
It can also make a lovely homemade gift for grandparents and other family members.
Build A Miniature Woodland
For a craft activity that can turn into hours of imaginative play, use your autumn finds to build a tiny woodland world.
A cardboard box or shallow tray can become your base. Add leaves for the forest floor, twigs for trees and fences, stones for paths and pinecones for trees or characters.
Children can then add toy animals, homemade creatures or little figures and create their own stories.
It does not need to look perfect. In fact, deciding what each random stick, leaf and conker could become is part of the fun.
Autumn Crafts Can Be As Simple As You Like
Crafting with children does not need to mean complicated instructions, expensive kits or a finished product that looks exactly like the picture you started with.
Sometimes, a handful of leaves, a few conkers, some glue and plenty of imagination are all you need.
Autumn crafting also gives families a reason to get outside, explore their surroundings and notice how the natural world changes throughout the year. The walk to collect your materials can be just as enjoyable as the crafting itself.
At RUSH 2The DEN, we love giving children and adults opportunities to get creative, try something new and enjoy making things together. Keep an eye on our upcoming activities and events to see what we have planned throughout autumn and beyond.
And next time you are out for a walk, take a closer look at what is lying underneath the trees. Your next craft project might already be waiting for you.
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