30+ Fall Leaf Activities To Enjoy With Your Kids

If you are looking for ways to cherish the arrival of Autumn 🍁, there are plenty of fall leaf activities you can try out. In this article, I have put together my all-time favorite fall leaf crafts you can do using stained glass and suncatchers. 

Kids love activities that involve a lot of color and zing. These Projects will be loved by your little ones, and there’s so much to do throughout the fall season. 

The weather is cool, and you have such unique shades of leaves 🍁 – red, yellow, and orange! 

What’s so special about fall leaves?

I remember that as a young girl, I loved going to our front yard and collecting fallen leaves 🍂 scattered around the big tree. We would put them together into a large pile and then dive right in!

I want my kids to feel the joy of admiring fall colors and foliage during the Fall. I want them to use their creativity to celebrate this beautiful time of the year.

These easy and fun fall leaf 🍃 crafts are the best way to bring out joy and warmth in our kids and create wonderful memories with them.

Fall Leaf Crafts For Preschoolers

DIY Leaf Bowl

This is my all-time favorite leaf craft of all time. You can use real leaves 🍂 raked from your front yard or artificial leaves, Mod Podge, and make a leaf bowl. Both younger and older kids can enjoy this activity equally.

Salt Painting

Even as a parent, I enjoy salt 🧂 painting 🖼️ with my kids. We spend afternoons painting on fall leaf color pages. You can look for them online and print what you love. The vibrant colors are a delight to look at.

Fall Tree

Your kids can use collected fall leaves from your backyard to make a beautiful fall tree. Paint 🎨 the branches and then add the leaves to make a colorful tree that celebrates the vibrant and elegant theme of the fall season!

Thankful Tree

Making a thankful tree is an integral part of the leaf crafts section. Through this activity, you can encourage your kids to express their gratitude 🙏🏼 by decorating a tree with fall leaves that have their heartfelt love written on it.

Fall Leaf Spray Paint Art

Simply with white cardstock paper, multi-colored spray paints, and collected fall leaves, you can create amazing artwork 🖼️ with your kids. I have even gifted some of these made on a canvas, framed. The vibrant colors are amazing to look at!

Pro Tip: 

After the spray paint on the canvas dries off, make sure your kids pull the leaves very gently, one at a time.

Nature Art

You can make a fun 3D nature art using Fall leaves 🍁. Collect foliage while taking a walk in the woods with your little ones. You get some exercise and also have the stuff you need to make beautiful artwork.

Fall Tree

You can ask your kids to make a tree in their drawing ✍🏼 book using the Fall leaves they collect from the front yard. They can use glue to stick the leaves together and then paint and decorate the tree further.

Printable Fall Leaf Activities

Printable worksheets 📑 are available online that you can get during the autumn season to engage your kids in some fun learning. This is a great way to learn new things and develop a deep appreciation for the beauty of nature.

Pro Tip: 

I love using fall leaf posters, printed leaf decor, puzzles, number-printed leaves, etc., to encourage my kids to embrace the fall season.

Fall Leaf Sewing Cards

My kids love making stew! Simply teach your little ones to start sewing 🪡 with printable fall leaves. I have always chosen this activity to be perfect to improve my kids’ motor skills and hand-eye coordination. You can also try it out!

Paper Loop Fall Tree

If your kid loves paper crafts, they will enjoy making a fallen tree 🌳. There are various paper strips available in stationery stores that you can turn into an excellent fall craft. You can keep it as a wall hanging. 

Thanksgiving Favors

Party favors 🎁 are an integral part of our Thanksgiving parties. We add the essence of Fall to it by decorating with fall leaves and turkey fun. We use it as a memento for our guests, expressing our gratitude and compassion.

Pro Tip: 

We also get printed quirky stickers to add to our favors to give it a modern touch, especially for the kids.

Tissue Paper Tree

The Play-Based Mom has an amazing fall tree craft available. It is the best thing you can expose your kids to if you want them to understand and value the essence of Mother Nature with a beautiful fall-themed tissue paper tree 🧻🌲.

Fall Leaf Rubbings

What a delight it is to look at leaf rubbings, especially ones made using Fall leaves 🍂. Your kids will love gazing at the beautiful leaves printed, the veins clearly showing. The diversity of color is what attracts us the most.

Fall Leaf Mason Jar Lanterns

This is an amazing DIY fall decor that we do almost every year. We add fabric leaves with Mod Podge to decorate mason jars 🫙. They look pretty and are the perfect decoration for our mantel or at the dinner table.

Pro Tip: 

Before you start decorating, you must wash the mason jars thoroughly to make sure there is no remaining dirt/grease.

Window Art

If you want to take the beauty of your room windows 🪟 up a notch, you can use fall leaves on the stained glass along with construction paper to make beautiful artwork. They look amazing and set the festive mood right in!

Fingerprint Trees

Fingerprinting ☝🏼 is one of the most favorite activities of every kid in the world. They love to get all dirty and make a mess. If your kid is a preschooler, you can use this activity to teach them number counting.

Fall Leaf Lion

I still have a framed artwork of a lion 🦁 which my elder kid made with Fall leaves four years ago. The autumn shades of the leaves were perfect for the lion’s mane, and it is so cute to look at!

Pro Tip: 

While chopping the leaves for this project, I generally go for colors that range from deep orange to bright yellow.

Toilet Paper Roll Fall Leaf Stamping

If you have extra toilet paper 🧻, you can use it to make artwork. Use them to exhibit the colorful fall leaves in a hands-on method. You can frame them later and keep them in your kids’ room as a memory.

Hot Glue Gun Fall Leaves

This is not just an art project. You can also teach your kids about the biological aspect of leaves 🍃. You just need some watercolor, brushes, and a glue gun, and you are all set! Draw the veins on with the glue.

Pro Tip: 

Always supervise while your kids are working with the glue gun to make sure nobody gets hurt.

Fall Leaf Lanterns 

Get a regular lantern 🏮 and ask your kids to stamp the collected leaves on top of it. This is a super easy way to kick in the festivities by decorating your house with fall-themed pieces. Also, your kids can make it easily.

Marbled Fall Leaves

Ask your kids to press cardstock leaves in shaving cream, paint them, and squeeze them to bring out the beautiful marbled paper 📄. They are the perfect craft to prepare your house for the fall and holiday season to arrive soon.

Fall Leaf Peg Dolls

This is a great DIY activity for preschoolers. Use tissue or fabric of fall colors to make peg dolls🪆 and ask your kids to rack up their brains to create different forms, maybe one with a leaf cape or wings!

Pro Tip: 

Pegs are very small in size. So, always try using less fabric, tissue, or felt to do this activity.

Fall Leaf Fox Family

You need to get your googly eyes, and your kids will easily turn those leaf-shaped things into excellent leaf foxes 🦊. Certain fall leaves have the perfect color that matches that of a fox. It’s a creative art that looks amazing.

Fall Leaf Maze

If you are looking for a fun activity to do while you are taking the fall leaves in your backyard, you can ask them to make a leaf labyrinth. My boys spend hours in the afternoon running 🏃‍♂️ around the maze!

Accordion Fold Fall Leaf Banner

If you’ve got sketch paper, yarn, and watercolor, you can easily make these paper-leaf banners with your preschooler. They become a very beautiful part of your Holiday decorations 🪅 and brighten up your house. You can try it during playdates.

Pro Tip: 

Open up your accordion folds like a fan and push down on the leaf edges to keep them open.

Handprinted Fall Trees

Fall leaves truly represent nature’s transition during the autumn season. To reflect that on paper, kids can dip their hands in colors and create a fall tree 🌳. What’s not to love- the color mess or the vibrant mix of shades?

Pop Art Fall Leaf Painting

Using fall leaves to create pop art is an amazing activity for your kids. Provide them with leaves 🍃 of various colors, acrylic paint, and white cardstock to make the artwork. You can frame it later because they look so elegant!

Pro Tip: 

I recommend using this activity to teach kids about complementary colors lying opposite to each other on the spectrum.

Tissue Paper Fall Leaves

My kids are often assigned this tissue paper 🧻 leaf art project at school. You simply need to crumple, crinkle, and ball fall-themed tissue paper to give it a specific shade and texture. You can stick them in a scrapbook later.

Fall Leaf People

Collect beautiful fall leaves during a nature walk. Ask your kids to draw faces 😄 on them using puffy paint and leave them to dry overnight. Kids love playing with these goofy leaves, and you have a fun fall-themed leaf activity.

Stained Glass Fall Leaf

I always find stained glass 🪞 fall crafts very fascinating. The most amazing thing is that no two crafts are the same. Your kid can simply use contact paper and collected leaves to give your front door/window a fall makeover!

Pro Tip: 

We always try to do this activity with freshly collected leaves from our backyard.

Fall Leaf Garland

This simple garland 🏵️ activity carries the essence of Fall. Ask your kids to tie the collected leaves using a string, and you can hang them above your doors and windows or in the kitchen to give your home an Autumn makeover!

Fall Leaf Crowns

Trust me, the various shades of fall leaves make the best crown 👑 ever! My kids make these crowns at home, and they often wear them to school during Autumn. Kids love colorful objects, especially when it’s above their heads!

Crayon Shaving Fall Leaves

Making crayon crafts out of fall leaves is one of my favorite activities. Ask your kids to create crayons 🖍️ that resemble the fall shades. Cover it with wax paper, which marks with the shaved crayons, creating a long-lasting, elegant color.

Pro Tip: 

I generally use maple and ash leaves that have beautiful shades of green, orange, red, and yellow.

Q Tip Painted Fall Tree

You just need some paint and a box of Q-tips, and ask your kids to draw a fall-themed tree. Let them freely express their individual creativity 🖌️ on a sheet. This is a fun activity to keep your kids engaged in.

Fall Leaf Hedgehogs

If you want to have fun with fall leaves, you can try making hedgehogs 🦔 from the vibrant colored leaves you collect from your backyard or during a nature walk. This familiarizes kids with different animals and improves their painting skills.

Fall Leaves with Yarn Wrap

Making yarn-wrapped 🧶 autumn leaves is not only a fun activity but also improves kids’ motor skills. Also, when displayed, they make an excellent form of mixed-media artwork. You can create different shapes out of these- hearts, pumpkins, or even Christmas trees!

Pro Tip: 

Always try using contrast-colored yarn to give a finer outcome to the artwork.

Paper Bags Fall Leaves

You can make beautiful artwork using paper bags 🛍️ and fall leaves. You can cut out various shapes and create many decorative objects or storage for your kids. My boys can easily make garlands, pumpkins, and puppets using these simple ingredients.

Pumpkin Seeds Fall Tree

You can create fun, beautiful artwork using pumpkin 🎃 seeds and paint. It’s a great way to teach your kids to understand and exhibit vibrant fall colors and changing leaves. This is also a great activity to strengthen their motor skills.

Fall Leaf Roses

I am a big fan of roses 🌹. My little ones came up with this awesome idea of using the vibrant fall leaves to make roses. We decorate our mantelpiece and kitchen top with these roses and trust me, and it looks so elegant!

Pro Tip: 

Try using maple leaves of various colors to make roses of great depth and variety. 

Hello, Fall Porch Sign

Another great way to use fall leaves to create artwork is to make a Hello Fall sign 🪧 board and decorate it with vibrant colored leaves. It gives your house an amazing AUtumn look and makes guests feel welcomed and greeted.

Fall Wreaths

These are a delightful addition to your fall crafts. Kids can easily make a fall wreath 🏵️ using collected fall leaves of various colors, a large paper plate, and a string/ribbon. Kids learn the beauty of symmetry from this activity.

Fall Ghost Leaves

If you want to start early preparations for Halloween, you can use fall leaves to make ghost 👻 faces. Collect some leaves from your front yard, paint them white, and then use black color to make the eyes and the mouth.

Pro Tip: 

While choosing leaves for this activity, make sure you sort out the sturdy ones that kids can paint on without tearing them.

Fall Sensory Bin

This activity is an excellent way to teach your kids how to hold their senses through a tactile study of assorted leaves, acorns, etc. This improves their sensory power and also incorporates a deeper love of nature 🍀 in their hearts.

Fall Leaf Printables

From coloring sheets to tuitional games, there are plenty of fun ways to use fall printables 📑 to engage your kids in fall-themed activities. Without much hassle, your kids learn to make the best of their imagination and gratitude towards nature.

Fall Leaf Collage

My kids go on a nature walk and collect leaves 🍁 of as many different colors as possible. Then, they paste it on cardboard to create a beautiful collage that reflects the true beauty of the diversity we see during Autumn.

Pro Tip: 

Before sticking the leaves, remove the stems to create more space on the canvas.

Fall Leaf Printed Air-Dried Clay Decor

You just need some air-dried clay, a rolling pin, fall leaves, and gold and silver metallic paint. Cut the clay circles into various shapes 💠. I still have a beautiful pendant my younger kid made for me when he was 3.

Doodling on Fall Leaves

This is possibly the easiest way to use fall leaves; simply ask them to collect leaves from the front yard and doodle or draw ✍🏼 on them freely using metallic Sharpies. Let their imagination create the best artwork you’ve ever seen!

Fall Leaf Bean Mosaic

You may not even know about this one. Bean mosaics are so fun to create, and I have always found this activity very relaxing for my kids. With some fall leaves 🍁, beans 🫘, and legumes, you can make this wonderful artwork.

Pro Tip: 

We generally use green and yellow split peas or kidney and black beans for this activity.

Fall Leaf Mandala

I’ve always been fascinated with mandala art 🖼️. I try to get my kids to create mandalas but with a fall theme. I provide them with a specific pattern and ask them to recreate it with fall leaves of vibrant colors.

Fall Leaf Rock Art

You must have rocks 🪨 of various sizes lying in your backyard. Collect them along with fall leaves. With Mod Podge, your kids can easily make beautiful rock art. It makes up for an amazing decorative piece for the mantle.

Conclusion

Well, there you go. Over 50 ideas to celebrate the magical fall season! It’s good to include kids in these activities. They not only learn something new from every activity, but they are constantly engaged in something creative 💭. 

All these ideas are innovative, very easy to do, and look amazing when done. You also get to make good use of plenty of stuff instead of throwing them away.

I would like to know what you guys made with your little ones. Please share your views and pictures of leaf crafts you make after reading this article. Leave a comment to let me know if you liked my article. 😁

This fall season, get crafty with the kids and have loads of fun! Best wishes to everyone reading this article.

🍁Happy Autumn! Happy Fall!🍁