In the fall, my kids love to fill their pockets with "treasures" they find outside--brightly-colored leaves, sticks, you name it. Do you have any suggestions for some easy autumn crafts that will put all these bits and pieces to good use?
Fall is not only the harvest season for food, but from a kid's perspective, the harvest season for cool stuff to find outside--which makes it a great time to hunker down and make some nature crafts.
If your child is a big stick collector, here are a few fun ones to try. First, a woodsy stick vase is wonderfully simple to create, and after your child is done, it makes a great decoration for her room, especially when filled with some dried autumn flowers. Also fun to make are walking sticks and stick hats--two fashion accessories that any fall hiker will appreciate. And a really simple project that's great for even very young kids is making a simple stick snake. Just have your kids find a small curvy stick, peel off the bark, and paint it in a snake pattern with tempera or acrylic paints. Glue on some googly eyes and a red yarn tongue and presto: Your child's very own pet snake.
Those brightly-colored leaves you mentioned are the perfect craft material for making all kinds of things, such as leaf-rubbings, leaf-print cards, leaf placemats, or even a leaf-print t-shirt. You can also use leaves and other fall plants to create nature t-shirts--a cool project that uses spray fabric paint to create colorful designs.
Finally, fall is the perfect time to remember two classic craft projects: cornhusk dolls (dry your own husks or buy them at any craft store) and, my personal favorite, pet rocks. Sure, it's a throwback to the '70s, but what better way to turn a lowly stone into folk art?
