Autumn is one of the best seasons for craft with children, largely because the materials are lying on the ground outside and cost nothing.
A paper scarecrow
You need paper, a pencil, glue, scissors, googly eyes, raffia or straw, and markers, crayons, coloured pencils or paint.
Draw and cut out the scarecrow’s outline, then draw and cut clothes for it separately – a straw hat, a shirt, trousers, patches. Glue the clothes on, add the eyes, and tuck raffia or straw at the cuffs, collar and under the hat.
Building it from separate pieces rather than drawing it in one go is what makes it work for a child: the shapes come out clean regardless of fine motor control, and the layering gives it depth.
Leaf work
The defining autumn material and it is free.
Leaf rubbing. Lay a leaf under paper and rub over it with the side of a crayon. The veins appear, and children find this genuinely surprising the first time.
Leaf printing. Paint one side of a leaf and press it onto paper.
Pressed leaf collage. Press leaves between books for a few days, then glue them into pictures – hedgehogs, owls and trees all come easily out of leaf shapes.
A leaf garland, threaded on string across a window.
Conkers, acorns and seed heads
Good for threading, sorting and counting as well as for making things. Painted acorns, conker creatures with matchstick legs, seed heads glued into pictures.
Collect on a walk, which is half the activity, and let them dry indoors before using.
Pumpkins without carving
A carved pumpkin collapses within days. Painted or decorated ones last weeks, are safe for children to do entirely themselves, and can be composted afterwards.
Paint, stuck-on shapes, or crocheted appliqués pinned to the surface.
Apple printing
Halve an apple, dip in paint, print. Simple, effective, and the cross-section star is a small revelation to a young child.
What makes these work
The same rules as any children’s craft. It should finish in one sitting, forgive imprecision, have no single right answer, and produce something worth displaying.
Set up somewhere that can get messy and say so out loud. And resist improving their work – the wonky scarecrow is the point.
