Have young kids at home? These fall crafts for kids are easy, fun, and a great way to celebrate this colorful season!
Fall Crafts for Kids
The air is getting cooler, the days are getting shorter – it's the perfect time of year! We love fall around here and with younger kids I love being able to incorporate some crafting and activities into our days.
Here are 5 favorite fall crafts for kids using mostly items you already have around your home or require no supplies at all.
These crafts require very little set up and guarantee hours of fall fun for your kids. Make sure to save this list for fall break, rainy days, or some after school fun before dinner!
#1 – Homemade Pumpkin Spice Play Dough
This is the most delicious smelling homemade play dough EVER! (Second only to my homemade gingerbread play dough that we make around Christmas.)
You can actually make your own play dough at home and in my opinion it is WAY better than store bought! Homemade play dough is soft, lasts so long, and smells great. Plus, if you have a crazy three year old like me who may eat it – you can at least feel a little better about it since these ingredients are found in your kitchen.
Note: Since this dough is made of entirely food ingredients, it is technically taste-safe (meaning if a toddler put it in their mouth it isn't an emergency), but because the flour isn't being baked, this is not edible.Â
Here's what you need:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup fine salt
- 2 tablespoons cream of tartar (this makes it soft)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tablespoon oil (you can use what you have on hand – vegetable, olive, or avocado)
- 1 cup boiling water
- Orange food coloring (optional but extra fun)
Put the water up to boil.
In a bowl, add all the dry ingredients and stir to combine. Once the water is boiling (it won't take long since it's just one cup), add the oil and food coloring and mix to combine.
Stir the water mixture into the dry ingredients and mix well. Remove dough from bowl and knead on a clean, dry surface until it is no longer sticky.
My kids played with this yummy-smelling dough for hours!
We used a few tools for our play that were fun and came in handy:
Long rolling pin | Fall cookie cutters | Dough rollers with stamps
You can store this homemade play dough in an airtight container or Ziploc bag for up to 3 months.
#2 – Life Size Scarecrow
This is such a fun craft for kids to personalize – they're making a life size scarecrow version of themselves. My kids loved coloring this in after I traced them.
Here's what you need:
- Large paper (I keep a roll of this craft paper on hand because it's thick and you can cut it to size)
- Tape
- Black marker for tracing
- Crayons, markers, or pencils for kids to color with
Have kids lay down flat on a piece of paper and trace around them. I added the outfit, hat, and face but if you have older kids who want to do this themselves, feel free!
Then, let the kids have at it coloring in their scarecrow selves!
#3 – Painting with broccoli
This is such a fun activity and will totally delight your kids with how weird and wacky their new paintbrush is! Stamping paint with broccoli looks just like fall leaves on a tree! We did learn a few things with this one so read below for my do-overs!
Here's what you need:
- Fresh broccoli florets
- Red, orange, yellow, and brown paint
- Cardboard or posterboard (I just cut up some cardboard we had on hand)
- Plate or tray
Start by painting the tree (I painted the tree while my kids were occupied and let it dry completely). Make sure to paint lots of branches for variety! This does not need to be perfect 🙂 I used a foam brush and really just painted random lines for the branches!
Then, I used a chip and dip tray from the Dollar Tree that really comes in handy for crafting to separate the paint and added the broccoli brushes in the middle. You can use whatever you have on hand for this – paper plates, empty containers, etc.
Finally, let your kids press the broccoli floret into the paint and gently stamp onto the tree.
Here's what we learned! You need very little paint on the broccoli to make it look like leaves! If there is too much paint, it just stamps like a glob. Still cute but not quite what we were going for.
My kids proudly displayed their trees afterward and we love looking at their creations in our home.
#4 – Fall Leaf Crowns
This activity is such a HIT! Plus, it is such a well-rounded activity and gets you out of the house for a walk (or to your backyard!) and then totally lends itself to some imaginative play after you're finished.
Use real fall leaves for this for the best results, but if it's too cold or rainy outside and you have faux leaves on hand you can use those instead.
Here's what you'll need:
- A collection of leaves (various sizes and colors are ideal)
- Stapler (this was the sturdiest option but you can try glue instead)
- Thick paper
Start by cutting paper into about a 1″ thick strip. Then, measure around your kids' heads and staple in the back. You want it loose enough to slip on and off, but tight enough that it's not falling onto their face.
Then, start stapling your leaves! Ideally you'll have collected enough leaves to make a nice, full crown – but if you only have a few you can turn them to the side to take up more space.
I helped my three year old with this and my Kindergartener insisted on doing her own. Can you tell a difference? 😉
Once their crowns were full we put them on and they played outside pretending they were “wild girls”! Such a fun craft.
#5 – Nature Scavenger Hunt
Grab a FREE nature scavenger hunt sheet and head out for a walk! It's so fun to see what all you can cross off and look out for while you're enjoying some fresh fall air.
Kids will look for different types of trees, wildlife, and weather on your walk.
This would also be a great time to collect your fall leaves to make your crowns! 🙂Â
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