Fall crafts for kids: leaves, pumpkins and acorns

Fall is the most colorful season of the year, and nature hands children free craft supplies on every walk: crunchy leaves, acorns, pine cones, seeds and little pumpkins. These fall crafts for kids are easy, cheap and fun, with ideas for toddlers to tweens, fall activities to do outside, and free printable fall coloring pages to use as templates.

Collecting fall materials

Start with a fall walk. Take a bag or basket and collect fallen leaves in different colors and shapes, acorns and acorn caps, pine cones, conkers or chestnuts, seeds, twigs and dried flower heads. Only pick up things that have already fallen, and leave plenty for squirrels and birds. At home, press leaves flat in a heavy book for a few days so they last longer, and let pine cones dry out on a tray.

Leaf crafts for kids

1. Leaf rubbings. Put a leaf vein side up under thin paper and rub over it with the side of a crayon. Try different colors on the same page.
2. Leaf people and animals. Glue leaves onto paper and turn them into people, owls, foxes and hedgehogs with drawn faces and legs.
3. Leaf crown. Staple leaves onto a strip of card to make a fall crown.
4. Leaf suncatcher. Place leaves on sticky contact paper, cover with a second sheet and hang it in the window.
5. Leaf printing. Paint the back of a leaf and press it onto paper for a detailed print.
6. Leaf garland. Thread pressed leaves onto string with a needle (adults help) or tape them to ribbon.
7. Leaf wreath. Glue leaves around a paper plate ring.
8. Leaf mosaic. Tear leaves into small pieces and glue them inside an outline, such as an autumn leaves coloring page.

Pumpkin crafts

Pumpkins are not only for Halloween; they are a symbol of the whole fall season.

• Painted pumpkins. Paint mini pumpkins with faces, stripes or polka dots instead of carving.
• Paper plate pumpkins. Paint plates orange and add a green stem and curly vine.
• Paper strip pumpkins. Glue orange paper strips into a ball shape with a brown stem on top.
• Pumpkin seed art. Wash and dry pumpkin seeds and glue them into pictures or mosaics.
• Pumpkin coloring. Our pumpkin coloring pages include pumpkin patches, pumpkin faces and pumpkin carts.
• Pumpkin stamping. Cut an apple or a pepper in half and stamp pumpkin shapes in orange paint.

Acorn and pine cone crafts

• Acorn cap paint palettes. Use acorn caps as tiny paint pots.
• Acorn people. Draw faces on acorns and give them tiny hats.
• Pine cone owls. Glue felt eyes and wings onto pine cones.
• Pine cone bird feeders. Spread with seed butter and roll in birdseed, then hang outside.
• Pine cone painting. Roll a pine cone in paint and roll it across paper for interesting patterns.
• Acorn counting. Count, sort and line up acorns by size.

Easy fall crafts for toddlers

Keep toddler crafts simple and sensory. Let them crunch leaves, stick leaves on sticky contact paper, paint with pine cones and press their hands in orange paint to make a pumpkin patch. Tear paper scraps in red, orange and yellow for a fall collage, or color a big leaf with chunky crayons. Supervise closely, as acorns and small seeds are a choking hazard.

Fall crafts for preschool and kindergarten

Preschoolers enjoy leaf people, paper plate pumpkins, leaf rubbings and pine cone owls. These crafts build cutting, gluing and fine motor skills. Combine them with learning: count the leaves, sort them by color, or compare which leaf is bigger.

Fall crafts for older kids

Older children can try leaf printing, leaf lanterns, a nature journal with pressed leaves and drawings, and detailed fall coloring with colored pencils. They can also make fall cards for family, a pressed leaf bookmark or a pine cone wreath for the front door.

Fall activities for kids

Crafts are only part of the season. Get outside and enjoy fall with these activities:

• Leaf pile jumping. Rake leaves into a big pile and jump in.
• Apple picking. Then bake apple crumble or apple muffins together.
• Pumpkin patch visit. Choose a pumpkin and measure how heavy it is.
• Nature scavenger hunt. See our list in outdoor activities for kids.
• Squirrel watching. Watch squirrels collecting and burying nuts.
• Fall walk with a camera. Take photos of the most colorful trees.
• Hot cocoa and stories. Warm up after a chilly walk.

Fall learning activities

• Why leaves change color. Talk about how trees stop making green chlorophyll in fall, so yellow and orange colors show through.
• Leaf sorting. Sort by color, size and shape, then make a simple graph.
• Seasons chart. Draw the same tree in spring, summer, fall and winter.
• Fall math. Count acorns, measure leaves and add pumpkin pictures. Our Halloween worksheets and Thanksgiving worksheets have fall counting sheets.
• Fall words. Make a list of fall words like crunchy, golden and chilly, and use them in a poem.

Fall holidays and crafts

Fall is full of celebrations. See our Halloween crafts for kids for friendly pumpkins, ghosts and bats, and Thanksgiving crafts for kids for turkeys, thankful trees and table decorations.

Making a fall display

Turn all the crafts into a fall display. Hang a leaf garland along the window, add leaf suncatchers and pine cone owls, and stand painted pumpkins on the windowsill. Add a paper tree to the wall and let children glue colored leaves onto its branches as they collect them. Change the display through the season, adding Halloween and then Thanksgiving pieces.

Free fall printables

Our fall coloring pages include falling leaves, fall trees and harvest scenes, and the pumpkin pages are perfect for October. Print them on US Letter or A4 for free and use them as templates for collages, leaf mosaics and window displays.

Tips for fall crafting

• Press leaves for a few days so they stay flat and last longer.
• Bake pine cones on low for 30 minutes to open them up and remove any bugs (adults only).
• Use glue sticks for leaves and white glue for heavier items like acorns.
• Keep a tray for drying crafts away from radiators, which can make leaves crumble.

Frequently asked questions

What are easy fall crafts for preschoolers?

Leaf rubbings, leaf people, paper plate pumpkins, pine cone owls and leaf suncatchers are all easy for preschoolers and use free materials from a fall walk.

How do you keep leaves from crumbling in crafts?

Press them flat between sheets of paper in a heavy book for a few days, or seal them between two sheets of contact paper.

What can kids do in the fall?

Jump in leaf piles, go apple picking, visit a pumpkin patch, do a nature scavenger hunt, make fall crafts and color fall pages.