11 Fall Crafts for Kids

Fall crafts are a fun way to celebrate and learn about the shift in seasons with your kids. The changing leaves, crispness in the air, anticipation of Halloween, and the bounty of the fall harvest season all provide wonderful inspiration for clever things to make at home. But crafting with your kids need not be overly complex. In fact, simple supplies and easy steps are all that's needed to create some truly cool autumn crafts.

Below, some of the best craft bloggers and experts on Instagram share 11 inspired fall craft ideas. From pumpkins, apples, and ghosts to hedgehogs and pine cones, you are sure to find a craft your child will adore.

DYI Fall Leaf Garland

"My daughter loves to paint, and I love decorating for fall, so this was a great way to combine the two," explains Chloe Duffy, mother of two and the crafter behind Instagram's chloe_duffy3. She created this gorgeous fall leaf garland craft. This fun-to-make project also doubles as a special seasonal decoration.

Just about any child can participate in this project—just increase the parental involvement with younger kids. While the end result looks beautiful and intricate, it's actually quite simple to make. "With just some painted paper, scissors, and strategic folds, you can transform your child’s art into décor," says Duffy, who made hers in under 30 minutes.

Instructions

Follow these steps to make your own fall leaf garland:

1. Have your child paint the printer paper and let it dry.
2. Fold the paper in half widthways and cut the edge in different leaf patterns.
3. Unfold the page and do an accordion fold.
4. Pinch the paper midway and bring the ends together.
5. Tape the seam, forming a leaf. Repeat this for all painted papers.
6. Cut long rectangles using the scrap painted paper to use as stems.
7. Form a loop with the stem and tape to the top of your leaves.
8. Thread onto your choice of string, twine, or ribbon.
9. Hang and enjoy!
   

Feathered Pinecone Turkeys

These quirky, personality-filled turkey pinecones are a blast for kids to make. Los Angeles-based crafting guru and a mother of 4 boys Kelly Ray Robson designed this project for children ages 5 and up. Kids will enjoy how a few simple supplies can be put together to create such lively creatures. Plus, you can go with the kids on a walk to find some pinecones outside—or source them at your local craft store. 

"I'm a huge fan of holiday table settings and thought these little turkeys would be great as place card holders or even built into a centerpiece," says Robson, who shifted her blog k.raycollective toward crafting once the coronavirus pandemic took hold. "Crafts are a way I can share the things I love to do with my boys along with helping develop their creativity." Additionally, this project gives kids the chance to showcase their work, something kids always get very excited about.

Instructions

In five simple steps, you go from pinecone to turkey:

1. Gather all your supplies.
   
2. Grab your orange felt or construction paper and have the kids cut out a mini triangle for the turkey mouth. Remember this is going on the pom pom, so make sure it is small enough.
   
3. Have the kids pick out their feather assortment. For smaller pinecones, use six to seven feathers for the tail. If you have larger pinecones, you may want to use more. 
4. Once you have your feathers and your hot glue gun is ready to go, find a good position for your pinecone to lay on its side. This is how it will stand once it is complete. 
5. Start to glue the feathers in between the last layers of scales at the back of the pinecone. This will be the widest part of the pinecone when it is laying on its side. Start with the tallest feathers in the center and the shorter ones to the sides.
   
6. Next up, the turkey head! Glue the two eyes and orange triangle (beak) onto your larger pom pom.
7. Take your mini pom pom (the turkey throat) and glue it at the bottom of your larger pom pom. Once it dries, add it to your pinecone. 
8. Glue the head on just above where the pinecone comes to a point when it is on its side. 

Fall Mushroom

Katrina and Stephanie of Crafty Moms, who developed this mushroom craft, use their surroundings (and upcycling items in their homes) to inspire their projects. This unique craft, which is geared towards kids age 2 to 6, is also a fun sensory activity. Cut-in-half cotton swabs double as the mushroom’s scales that kids can put in and out of the mushroom cap. "We love making activities that encourage kids to learn and practice a skill by playing and having fun at the same time," says the duo.

This craft develops both fine motor skills (inserting the cotton swabs) and math skills (counting the cotton swabs) as well as the fun of creating the mushroom. "We put clear tape on the stalk to make it erasable to be able to write numbers for kids to count the [cotton swabs] while inserting them on the cap." 

Instructions

Use these instructions to make your own fall mushroom:

1. Draw an outline of a mushroom (including the cap, stalk, and underside).
2. Color in the parts of the mushroom, as desired. You can also have your child color the mushroom!
3. Cut cotton swabs in half (enough for the number of holes you use for your mushroom cap)
4. Use the screwdriver (or another tool that can make punctures) to make small holes (big enough for the cotton swabs to fit inside) in the surface of the mushroom cap.
5. Place clear tape over the end of the mushroom stalk.
6. Use the dry-erase pen to write the number of cotton swabs to insert. You can also write this as an addition or subtraction equation for older kids.
   

3D Paper Pumpkin Craft

"These 3D pumpkins are a great way to both decorate and display a festive craft made by the kids and/or the family," says Alyssa DiPietropolo, a mother of two from New Jersey who started her love.always_alyssa feed on Instagram in July 2021. Toddlers will love this craft because they can help by passing the pieces to their caregiver while they watch as the pumpkin takes shape. Additionally, it can be done more independently by older kids. This is a great one for a mixed age group.

"There is nothing better than seeing your child so proud of something that they created or helped to create," says DiPietropolo, who aims to share simple but fun to do crafts that can be used as keepsakes. "Crafts allow you to create a tangible family memory that you can hold onto for years." 

Instructions

Follow these steps to make your own 3D pumpkin:

1. Holding the orange construction paper horizontally, cut the paper into roughly one-inch strips.
2. Stack the orange paper strips into an even pile and punch a hole at each end of the pile.
3. Insert the pipe cleaner into each end of the orange paper strips, creating a “C” shape with the pipe cleaner.
4. Holding the craft upright, begin sliding down the paper strips on the pipe cleaner and fanning them out to create a round pumpkin shape.
5. Twist the pipe cleaner at the bottom of the pumpkin so that the paper strips cannot fall off and secure it with clear tape.
6. Cut two leaf shapes and two paper strips (for the vines) out of the green construction paper. Punch a hole at the end of each green cutout.
7. Slide the two green leaves onto the top of the pipe cleaner, followed by the two green paper strips. During this step, you can also add lines to your leaves with the green glitter glue to add a little pop!
8. Wrap the green paper strips one at a time around a pencil to curl them. Do the same with the top piece of the pipe cleaner to create a curly stem.

Fall Bean Mosaic

"There are so many things to love about fall," says Eliza Spingos, mother of three, the mind behind Learn Craft Grow, and the crafter behind this apple-themed bean mosaic project. "Autumn is a special season for our family and we always make sure to visit the orchard to gather apples," says Spingos. Like this one, many of her apple craft ideas are inspired by this annual family tradition.

Kids will enjoy the tactile experience of gluing down the beans on the cardboard background. Kids also tend to love just about anything involving glue. Designed for ages 2 to 10, this project only has a few steps but offers lots of fun along the way. Little kids will enjoy painting on the glue and can hand you the beans to place down. Older kids, from 5 on up, can do the project independently.

Instructions

These simple directions take you from a pile of beans to an apple:

1. Sketch a picture of an apple on a piece of cardboard.
2. Apply glue and spread it around with a paintbrush.
3. Add kidney beans for the apple, lentils for the stem, peas for the leaf, and navy beans for the background. 
4. Let dry!
   
   

Pinecone Halloween Friends

Kylee Bailey of create.share.play took Halloween crafting to a new level with these adorable "costumed" pinecone friends. "Fall is my favorite season as that crisp air comes in and fall colors explode, making everything so gorgeous and cozy. I love taking that aspect from nature and its fall process into our crafting and learning," says Bailey.

Kids of all ages will have fun turning pinecones into creatures dressed in their favorite Halloween costumes. Plus, this craft involves painting, googly eyes, and glue—what is not to love? Even better, the project only takes a few easy steps and you end up with inspired Halloween decorations.

Instructions

Try your hand at creating these pinecone Halloween friends:

1. Fully paint your pinecone. 
2. While your pinecone is drying, cut out your felt pieces for whichever facial details (eyes, mouth, nose, etc.) you decide to include.
3. Once your pinecone is fully dry, attach your details by gluing them on to make faces, legs, hats, etc.

Easy Autumn Leaf Rubbing Activity

"The thing I enjoy the most about crafts for kids is watching the 'ah-ha' moment they have when they learn something new and when they achieve or create something they are proud of," says Brenda Robledo of Riverside, California, who is the brains behind crafts_and_adventures on Instagram.

This craft combines the activities of selecting leaves, placing them on paper, and choosing colors with the hands-on work of leaf rubbing. Kids of all ages can successfully enjoy this project. Make this craft into an outing by taking kids outside to collect the leaves to use. Challenge them to find leaves in a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes.

Instructions

Use these steps:

1. Put a leaf upside down on the table.
2. Place a piece of paper over the leaf.
3. While holding the paper and leaf in place, use the side of a crayon to rub across the leaf.
4. Make sure that you color over the entire leaf.
5. Repeat steps to add multiple rubbings to fill up the paper.

Popsicle Stick Pumpkins

"This activity is designed to engage kiddos in a festive craft that also helps them to work on valuable fine motor, bilateral coordination, visual perception, eye-hand coordination, and sequencing skills," says Regina Allen, a pediatric certified occupational therapy (OT) assistant and craft blogger. Allen's COTA Life Instagram and blog aims to increase OT awareness and help other professionals and parents with craft and activity ideas to support the children in their lives.

"I enjoy creating crafts and other activities that motivate children to engage while incorporating festive and seasonal themes into the craft." Here, multiple skills—weaving, gluing, coloring (or painting), and building—are combined into one winningly complex project.

This craft is intended for kids around fourth grade and up, but can also be done by younger kids with more parental support. Kids will enjoy personalizing their pumpkins, as well as the sensory experience of twisting and interlacing the pipe cleaners and paper.

Instructions

Follow these steps to create your own unique popsicle stick pumpkin:

1. Assemble an orange craft stick square with the use of glue.
2. Glue in place three vertical orange craft sticks on the front that are equally separated.
3. Cut a craft stick piece for a stalk and paint or color brown.  Attach on the back side with an adhesive.
4. Attach a green foam oval shape to the front as a leaf.
5. The next few decorative steps can be chosen by the adult or child based on choice or need for skill development. These options include wrapping the orange pipe cleaners around each orange craft stick in a spiral fashion. Or, try weaving alternating white and orange pipe cleaners in a horizontal sequencing pattern. Another choice is to cut out orange cardstock strips of paper and then weave in a horizontal fashion.

Autumn Hedgehog

"The giant Sycamore leaves in our yard inspired me to put this craft together for my young kids," says Lindsay Smith of Little School of Smith’s, who has four children aged 7 and younger. "I love doing fall crafts with kids based on how the seasons are changing. It is a great hands-on way for them to explore and learn."

In this craft, kids get to select leaves and then layer them in order to create a cute hedgehog. Older kids can take the project up a notch by drawing an environment on the page for their hedgie to live in.

Instructions

Make your own leaf hedgehog by using these directions:

1. Search and find a simple hedgehog clip art (in black and white) online or draw one yourself
2. Collect lots of leaves
3. Have your children color the hedgehog head.
4. Cut off the stems of the leaves.
5. Glue down the leaves all in the same direction (layering them) to resemble the quills of a hedgehog. 
6. Let dry!

Colorful Fall Trees

"Some of my favorite crafts involve items from nature (sticks, leaves, etc.) because it forces us to get outside and go for a scavenger hunt as part of the process," says Meghan McCloskey, a mom of three in Portland, Oregon, who has been crafting online as Craft + Boogie since 2017. "I love weaving the colors of nature into the projects I create."

This craft can be completely individualized to suit each artist's sensibility. So, let the trees, branches, and colors outside (or in your child's imagination) inspire you. This project is ideal for kids aged 2 on up—and adults will undoubtedly have a blast making their own tree, too.

Instructions

Follow these steps to make your own tree:

1. Use a clothespin to pick up a cotton ball.
2. Dip a cotton ball in paint and use it as a stamp on your card stock.
3. Repeat with more colors until your paper is full!
4. Glue sticks or twigs to your paper, or cut and twist a paper bag to create the look of a tree and glue it to your paper. (You can add more paint to the paper bag, too, if you would like!)
5. Optional: Cut out your painting and mount it onto another piece of colorful cardstock to create a cool layered look.

Pumpkin Arrow Trucks

"I love making crafts with templates," says Jeannie Irwin, a mother of three from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. "Stapling templates to construction paper and making all kinds of animals, vehicles, even food crafts is so much fun." Plus, Irwin, who started her Crafting Jeannie blog in early 2020, loves that when you use templates you don’t have to be creative or an amazing artist. "Using a template guarantees the base craft will come out like it is supposed to, every single time!"

This craft, which is intended for kids aged 4 to 7, also has the bonus of becoming a fun activity, as kids are sure to love putting the pumpkins in and out of the pocket in the truck bed. Kids can also individualize their craft by making other items to go into the truck, such as hearts, flowers, farm animals, or hay bales.

Instructions

Use these directions to make your own pumpkin arrow truck:

1. Print the truck template and cut it into sections using the dotted lines.
2. Staple each section to multiple sheets of colored construction paper. (That way, you can cut out lots of shapes at one time!)
3. Glue all of the pieces of the truck together. (When they are making the pocket, make sure to help the children keep the glue to the edges.)
4. Print out (or make your own) pumpkins to put into the truck bed pocket.