Fall in love with crafting this Autumn!

Your kids might have gone back to school but maybe their younger pre-school siblings are left feeling lonely and bored; or maybe you’re looking for cute and cost effective ways to while away the weekends in the run up to Christmas.

The good news is, Autumn is naturally a wonderful season for eco-crafting with kids. Here are some fun and creative autumn craft ideas that you and your kids will love:

Leaf Art Collage: Collect colourful autumn leaves and use them to create beautiful leaf collages. You can glue them onto paper to make pictures, or even press them between sheets of wax paper for a stained-glass effect. Also try flattening and drying them between heavy books for a neater effect.

Pinecone Creations: Gather pinecones and let kids turn them into creatures like owls or hedgehogs. Add googly eyes, felt, and pipe cleaners for details. Or else decorate them with some spray paint and glitter and display them with fairy light in glass vases for a stunning effect!

Fall Foliage Prints: Use leaves as stamps to create autumn-themed prints. Dip leaves in paint and press them onto paper to make lovely leaf patterns.

Pumpkin Decorating: They’re already in the shops and in many gardens if you’ve been growing you own! Particularly the miniature varieties. Have kids decorate small pumpkins with paint, markers, stickers, or even by gluing on googly eyes and felt features to create pumpkin characters.

Handprint Trees: Make handprint trees by painting kids' hands and using them as the leaves for tree trunks drawn on paper. This creates a lovely keepsake for loved ones too. Go with rich, Autumn themed colours.

Autumn Wreaths: If you hadn’t noticed, wreaths are now an all year round phenomenon! Create autumn wreaths using materials like leaves, acorns, pinecones, teasel and coloured ribbon. You can use a cardboard or oasis base for the wreath.

Autumn Candle Holders: Decorate glass jars with autumn-themed tissue paper cutouts or flattened dried leaves. Place a tea light inside (or a faux, battery operated one for kids’ bedrooms!) for a warm, cosy glow as the nights draw in. (Always place burning candles in a safe place and out of the reach of children.)
 

Leaf Rubbings: A fun and easy activity for younger children especially - place leaves under a sheet of paper and use crayons to make leaf rubbings, revealing the pretty, intricate details of the leaves.

Pumpkin Seed Art: Save the seeds when you carve pumpkins and use them to create mosaics or patterns on paper with glue and paint. You could even try painting them and making hole in them so that your kids can thread them onto thread to make beads.

Nature Mobiles and Hanging Leaves: A gorgeous way to amuse babies with the natural bounty of Autumn - collect twigs, pinecones, leaves, and other natural items to create mobiles that can hang from the ceiling. Also hang them on natural twine with pegs and add your family photos for some cute seasonal home decor.

Remember to adapt these craft ideas to the age and skill level of the children, and always supervise them when using sharp tools like scissors, glue, or other potentially hazardous materials. Enjoy the creative and colourful world of autumn crafting with your little ones!