Fall is a time when we all get in our comfy PJs a little earlier with the setting sun and look for indoor activities to keep the whole family entertained. With Thanksgiving, Halloween, and the natural beauty of autumn in between – there’s plenty of inspiration for fall crafts that will keep you and the kids creative all season long.
Let kids play Frankenstein and create monsters of their own
Toilet paper is a hot commodity these days; you might even be happy if neighbourhood kids TP your house this year! Get even more out of each roll with Halloween toilet paper roll crafts. Little imaginations will run wild with all the classic and original monster characters they can create!
Create coffee filter creatures
Do you have extra coffee filters from all of the homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte’s you’ve been making? Are you craving a craft that’s easy for little crafters and will help set the Thanksgiving table? Look no further than these coffee filter turkeys from Darcy Brian.
Children can practice basic colouring techniques as they use washable markers to draw autumn colours on their coffee filters. Then, show them how to create a tie-dye effect by spraying the coffee filters with water. The process of designing these coffee filter turkey feathers can be slightly messy if kids can’t keep from touching their creations while they’re wet. Still, we promise this seasonal craft is a lot less messy than working with finger paints or actual tie-dye materials.
Are you and your kids more excited about hanging up Halloween decorations? You can also try making coffee filter bats, which are equally simple to make and require a slightly spookier colour palette.
Do ghosts count as critters? During spooky season they do! If you don’t feel like adding colour to your crafting coffee filters, keep them white and make cute coffee filter ghost lollipops.
Light up their faces with fun-filled jars
Just because trick-or-treaters aren’t coming to your house this year doesn’t mean you can’t thrill passers-by with the chilling sight of glowing faces smiling from your windows or peeking out from the hedges. Glowing jack-o’-lantern jars are exciting for kids who love to run around on Halloween night decked out in glowstick jewellery. You’ll need to handle cutting the glow sticks open and filling jars with the luminescent liquid. Kids can take on the creative task of drawing their favourite jack-o’-lantern faces on the jars.
If you’re looking for glowing decorations that will last night after night, like traditional jack-o’-lanterns, try Crafts by Amanda‘s paper Halloween luminaries – no glow sticks required, just basic crafting supplies and battery-operated tea lights.
Do you buy cute seasonal napkins only to end up not using them because you don’t want to wipe gravy off your kids’ faces with a pretty autumnal design? Put those pretty designs to good use with fall napkin luminaries. This simple fall craft will add atmosphere to the dinner table that won’t be ruined by cranberry sauce stains.
Fun-Filled Jars Part II – Extra Sensory Fun!
Sensory bottles are essentially DIY, extra kid-friendly, snow globes. This craft trend helps bring kids a tactile sense of calm and focus, so why not try making a beautiful falling leaves sensory bottle with your child? They’ll get a fascinating toy, and you’ll be able to enjoy the soothing, sparkly addition to your fall decor.
You can recycle plastic bottles for this craft or use glass mason jars if your kids can handle more delicate materials. Once you’ve gathered the necessary ingredients and a hot glue gun, take your kids for a walk in the yard to find clean tree-like twigs to use as the centrepiece of each bottle.
If your kids love their fall snow globes, you can also make Halloween sensory bottles filled with monster eyes and creepy crawlies.
Stretch pumpkin spice beyond coffee & pie
While parents enjoy pumpkin spice flavours with their morning caffeine fix, kids can enjoy the warm scents of cinnamon and other pumpkin spices with one of their favourite playthings: Slime!
This recipe for glittery cinnamon slime is perfect for kids who like their falling leaves sensory bottle so much; they want to squish it between their fingers. That wouldn’t work out too well with a leaky sensory bottle. Fortunately, slime’s sole purpose is to be squished! This version uses cinnamon essential oil to achieve a lovely autumn aroma, in addition to funky fall vase fillers to add unique texture.
Another fall slime favourite is fluffy pumpkin spice slime. The secret fluff-adding ingredient is shaving cream, and real pumpkin spice seasoning gives this slime it’s heavenly pie-like scent. If you get the food colouring just right, this slime looks and smells almost good enough to eat, like it’s made with pumpkin pie filling and whipped cream instead of the shaving kind. Unfortunately, this stuff isn’t edible, but give your kids some aluminum pie tins, and they can pretend they’ve just baked an award-winning pumpkin pie.
Slime is fun, but it doesn’t exactly add charm to your decor. You can also use cinnamon-scented dough to make pretty fall ornaments to hang around the house. This craft is popular on Pinterest, so get out your pins – you’re rolling pins that is – and get ready to make cinnamon salt dough leaf ornaments! Kids love playing with dough, and baking their dough leaf designs is an excellent way to preserve their creations. Hang your freshly baked ornaments on branches arranged in a vase for a natural rustic look.
These craft ideas demonstrate that you don’t need expensive supplies or art teacher level skills to help little ones make a beautiful fall masterpiece.
Are you looking for more fall craft and decor ideas? Add comfort and spice to your living space this autumn with fall decor that will add unexpected warmth and coziness to your 2020.
Want to step up your Halloween game? From making your kids’ old costumes “come alive” to virtual pumpkin pimpin’ contests, we have more tricks and treats to make your Halloween scary good!