" Craft ideas for the fall "

In the fall, the days get shorter and cooler. When it rains, the children prefer to spend their time indoors. To prevent boredom, we have collected a few craft ideas for you to make with leaves. Make great decorations for the house and garden together with your children from the colorful autumn leaves.

Creative and versatile: crafting with leaves

Crafting with natural materials is great for children's fine motor development. Even the youngest children find it exciting to hold such irregular objects in their hands. No two leaves are the same. Each one has its own size, shape and color. It's best to choose the prettiest leaves for your craft project together.

While you are crafting with leaves, talk about the different types of trees. Why don't conifers lose their leaves in the fall? Which leaf belongs to which tree? In winter, hedgehogs enjoy the protective layer of leaves, while gardeners use them to make new compost next spring. There is so much to learn!

Child plays with a large leaf

Crafting with children only works if they are enthusiastic about the craft ideas and fully concentrate on them. Autumn decorations with leaves in particular are a little more challenging to make as the leaves break easily. Fortunately, there are plenty of supplies and our craft ideas can be adapted to suit the abilities of different age groups.

Create colorful autumn leaves

Take a handful of autumn leaves, a few colors and a lot of creativity - and you have a colorful collection of autumn decorations. For this craft project, choose leaves that have not yet dried. It is easier for your child if the individual leaves are still supple and stable when crafting with leaves.

Materials

• Leaves
• Acrylic paints
• Markers, glitter pens, ...
• brushes
• glue
• Motif beads
• Fastening clips

Procedure

There is no exact procedure for these craft ideas. Simply prepare a large craft area where all the materials are clearly laid out. Lay out a few layers of old newspaper to protect the surface. Then you can get started!

The children can brush their leaves with acrylic paint as they wish. Nice thick layers of paint ensure that the individual leaf will be stable and long-lasting later on. One possible idea would be to paint over the natural leaf structure with different colors. In some places, the original color of the leaf may even show through. Of course, it is also possible to paint entire pictures or scenes. Large chestnut or maple leaves are particularly suitable for this.

Children painting leaves

Once the layer of paint has dried well, it's time for further decoration. Glue, beads, markers and glitter pens are now used. With the help of a dab of glue, for example, a motif bead in the shape of a duckling sits in the middle of a colorful landscape. Glitter pens are used to create accents and markers in white or black bring out existing contours.

Finally, the autumn decorations need to be displayed. Simply use the fastening clips for this. This allows you to attach the colorful leaves to curtains or clothes hangers. It's also a nice idea to hang a garland of leaves around the room. To do this, hang a string across the room and attach the individual leaves to it with a clip.

Child applies patterns to leaves

Making leaf lanterns

Lanterns with leaves are useful for the lantern procession, but they also make pretty fall decorations for the windowsill. It is also one of the craft ideas that requires relatively little effort. If you have the materials together, it's best to make several versions with your children: large, small, thick, thin, with lots and little foliage.

Materials

• Round box (e.g. from a large Camembert)
• transparent paper
• leaves
• thin wire
• star carabiner
• scissors
• glue
• silicone beads
• Tea light (possibly LED)

Procedure

The first step is to spread out the top and bottom of the round box in front of you. If you have chosen a cheese box, your child must first cut off the bulge at the top of the box. There should be a smooth, round ring on the inside.

Now measure the circumference of the box. Cut the transparent paper to the appropriate width. The children are free to choose the height of the lantern. Shorten the height of the paper as desired. Decorate the lantern with leaves. Choose beautiful leaves together and stick them on the paper. Just make sure there aren't too many, otherwise the light won't get through.

Children stick leaves on

Make a ring out of the paper so that it fits around the cheese box. Glue the cheese box to the paper from the inside. Cut out the base from the other half of the cheese box. Glue the remaining ring to the top of the lantern from the inside.

Finally, glue the tea light to the base of the lantern. Make three holes through the top ring through which you can thread the wire. You can add silicone beads to the wire before threading all the ends onto the star carabiner. Use the carabiner to attach the lantern to a stick or even a pergola or branch at home.

Glue foliage animals

Deciduous animals are a classic when crafting with children in the fall. Basically, most animals can be depicted with leaves. However, some, such as the hedgehog or the lion, are particularly predestined for this craft project. Don't be afraid to come up with your own idea for an animal. In the end, it's always more about the fun than the result.

Materials

• Colored paper
• scissors
• leaves
• glue
• pencils
• Craft beads

Choose a nice piece of colored paper for the background. Roughly cut out the shape of your animal's head from another piece of colored paper. For the hedgehog, for example, this would be more of a triangular shape, while the lion needs a circle. You could also use a small circle for the head of a bird.

Now stick the head onto the background paper. Give it a cute face. You can use small lentil beads for the eyes. Stick these in the appropriate places and allow the glue to harden a little before continuing.

Child makes animals out of leaves

Now make the body. To do this, first draw the approximate outline of the body starting from the head of your animal. For the hedgehog this would be a horizontal oval and for the lion you could draw a large circle for the mane. Then cover this area completely with leaves. The leaves may, or rather should, overlap generously. This gives the animal more structure. The tips can also protrude beyond the outline. This gives the impression of real fur or feathers.

With a small child, it is best to provide the head and the outline of the body. Your child can then glue the leaves all by themselves. Finally, leave everything to dry thoroughly. Find a nice place for your leaf animal on the wall or a cupboard door.