It’s finally here! Fall is hands down my favorite season, so let the fall crafts and activities commence!
My kids and I have done many fun projects to commemorate the season over the past several years, and I thought it would be helpful to gather them all right here, in one place.
If you’re looking for fall nature crafts to do this season with your kids or students, I’ve got you covered.
1. Dip Leaves in Beeswax
Our favorite way to preserve autumn leaves, beeswax dipping is simple and fun and helps the leaves keep their color longer. I also LOVE the feel (and smell) of leaves dipped in beeswax!
Make sure the leaves you gather are in good condition, the flatter the better. And you need to choose leaves with stems so that you can hold onto the stems as you dip. All you need is a double boiler and some beeswax (we use the beeswax pellets because they melt faster). Here is the process we use.
2. Leaf Rubbings
A classic, and one of our favorite ways to play with leaf shapes and practice identifying leaf types.
Place fresh leaves vein side up underneath regular printer or drawing paper (don’t use thick paper or cardstock). Tip: tape down the corners of your paper with painter’s tape to keep things from sliding around.
Remove the wrapper from a black, brown or dark blue crayon and rub it sideways across the paper (pastels or charcoal would work too) to reveal the leaves underneath.
Your student may want to color the leaves with crayons or colored pencils, or even use watercolors to fill them in.
3. Leaf Shadow Painting
Find a sunny spot under an autumn tree and paint or color the shadows that you see! This works great with watercolors, but you can use colored pencils or crayons, too.
4. Beeswax Candle Making
Get ready for cozy season (or start on some early holiday gifts) with beeswax candle making. Our favorite way to make candles is by rolling up rectangular sheets of beeswax, with these kits.
5. Make Seed Mosaics
This is the perfect time of year to use foraged seeds or things from the garden as it’s winding down for the summer. You can also use old pantry items like dried beans and lentils. Learn how to make these seed mosaics here.
6. Design a Colorful Leaf Wreath
Want to add some fall color to your home? Just cut a wreath shape out of contact paper and send the kids outside to gather colorful leaves. Lay down the contact paper, sticky side up, and press leaves onto the paper in a circular pattern. Hang in a sunny window for a pop of fall color!
7. Make Autumn Spice Playdough + Nature Stamps
Pinecones, acorns, leaves and berries make wonderful loose parts to play with – but they make even better play dough stamps! This cinnamon scented playdough is velvety smooth and soft, and it smells DIVINE. Check out this post for the cinnamon spiced playdough recipe and all the details.
8. Make Leaf Confetti Mosaics
With some paper and a hole puncher, and freshly fallen leaves, you can make some beautiful autumn “leafetti” (leaf confetti) mosaics. Here’s how.
9. Draw the Harvest Moon
With black paper and chalk pastels, this harvest moon art comes out looking stunning. Get the step-by-step instructions here.
10. Make Moon Phases Playdough
Harvest moon playdough is so fun! This playdough recipe is super doable, and you can make the moon phases using a simple canning jar ring. Harvest Moon Playdough Recipe.
Harvest Moon Nature Study and Moon Phases Flash Cards
11. Leaf Animals
Some glue, googley eyes, and leaves are all you need to make these adorable leaf animals.
12. Mushroom Spore Prints
This is a great time of year to hunt for mushrooms, and making spore prints is a fun way to observe your finds.
13. Harvest Moon Lanterns
Harvest moon lanterns are so fun to make and take on a harvest moon evening walk. All you need for this project is a clear glass or plastic jar, mod podge, tissue paper (or translucent kite paper), a battery operated tea light, and some twine. Get the instructions here.
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