Free and Easy Fall Crafts for Children
Gather free supplies for fall-themed craft projects from your own back yard. Pine cones, colorful fall leaves, twigs and acorns are plentiful in the fall and easy to incorporate into a variety of children's craft projects. Add a few other inexpensive supplies such as twine, fishing line and craft foam and your kids can create decorative crafts for your home and garden.
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Fall Leaf Crafts
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Children can gather a collection of fall leaves and then preserve their shape and color through an easy pressing technique. Sandwich the leaves between wax paper and then insert them into a book. Add at least 20 pounds of weight on top of the book and leave the leaves alone for two weeks. Pressed leaves add color and design to a variety of children's craft projects. Glue the pressed leaves onto an artist's canvas to make wall art. String the leaves in a row on fishing line to make a fall leaf mobile. Children can also use fresh fall leaves to create artistic projects. Paint the back sides of the leaves with paint that matches the leaf color, and then press the painted side onto a paper bag to create customized gift bags.
Fall-Themed Wind Chimes
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Collect twigs, pine cones, holly berries and colorful fall leaves to create a whimsical set of fall wind chimes. Press the leaves to preserve the color, then coat them with spray floral glaze to make them last as long as possible. Sandwich a strand of fishing line in the center of two leaves placed back-to-back. Glue the leaves to the fishing line and to each other to incorporate them into the wind chimes. Pine cones are both free and easy to add to fall wind chime strands. Let the cones dangle at the end of a strand or tie them at the top and bottom to add to the center of a strand. Another free fall wind chime component is a small bundle of twigs; wrap twine around the twigs to hold the bundle together. Kids can also paint the twigs and the pine cones to add color to the chimes. Craft bells or old utensils bring a musical component to the chimes. If children can tie their shoelaces, they can tie the individual components together with fishing line to make wind chime strands. Tie the strands to a metal craft ring to complete the chimes.
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Rustic Wall Frame
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One rustic-style craft that children can make is a twig wall frame. Gather similar-sized twigs that are at least 6 inches long. Bundle four sets of twigs and tie them together with twine 1 inch from each end. Arrange the bundles in a four-sided frame design. Tie the corners together with twine. The children can decorate the twig frame with holly berries, acorns and small, pressed fall leaves. Viscous, clear-drying craft glue works to attach decorative elements to the twigs.
Pine Cone Crafts
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Older children can create decorative pine cone crafts using spray paint, glitter glue, and seed beads. Paint the pine cones, then ring the outside of the tips with glitter glue. Sprinkle seed beads into the wet glue for added color. Children of all ages may enjoy making a bird feeder from a pine cone. Spread peanut butter onto the pine cone and then roll it in bird seed. Hang the pine cone feeder from a tree limb and wild birds will flock to it.
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