Autumn is a beautiful time to engage in activities with your little one! These fun and easy fall crafts for young kids will keep little hands happily busy while also helping to develop fine motor skills, color recognition, and creativity. Some of these fun fall crafts are created for kids in preschool in Silver Spring, using everyday materials and objects found in nature.
There are so many projects that your little one can make with their own two hands, like a delightful fall version of the classic handprint turkey craft and lots of fun finger painting activities. Activities like these bring joy to the entire family and create little keepsakes to remind you of how tiny your children once were. Whichever project you decide to do with your kids, be sure to save some space on the fridge for these beautiful fall creations!
This fun fall leaf collage is a wonderful process art project for toddlers and preschoolers at a Silver Spring preschool. Head outside to collect leaves in various shapes, colors, and sizes. Then have your child arrange and glue the leaves onto cardstock or cardboard. Your kids can even paint the cardstock or leaves to give it their own touch. It’s a wonderful way to introduce toddlers and preschoolers to the beauty of nature’s diversity while giving them the chance to express their creativity through art.
Make this fun activity even more exciting by inviting your preschooler to glue a certain number of leaves onto the page! You can also use it to help them learn colors by sorting the leaves into color groups before gluing them together.
Preschoolers enjoy using their imaginations, and this craft lets them make little characters out of fall leaves, acorns, pinecones, and little sticks. Allow your youngster to arrange the leaves to form faces, insects, animals, or whatever they imagine! Then, help them glue the pieces onto cardstock to complete their leaf creation. One of our favorite autumn projects for small children!
You can even ask your preschooler to tell you a story about their leaves or give you a short puppet show. Having them create a story or puppet show will aid in language development and storytelling abilities.
This corn project with beads is a fun way to celebrate the season and an excellent way for younger kids to improve their fine motor skills. You only need pony beads and pipe cleaners to make this craft.
Twist the pipe cleaners together in the middle, then spread them out. Bead each piece, but leave the ends about 2″ blank. Twist the pipe cleaner ends together and fold the spokes up to make the corn husk. Change how the beads are placed so that the pieces look like corn.
First, let your child trace their hand on a lovely brown card stock paper piece. How about having them trace their hand and then fill it in with some brown paint? That sounds like a fun activity! Be sure to leave a little space below the hand so that you can use the arm as the tree trunk. Next, grab some lovely fall colors and squeeze a bit onto a paper plate for simple stamping fun. Then, they can grab their loofah and begin painting the beautiful fall leaves.
Cut an orange felt triangle into the shape of a beak for the turkey. Make a small cut in the middle so that it fits over the face. You need to make the turkey’s beak. Put the orange triangle on the puppet’s thumb, as shown in the picture above.
Cut a head out of red felt for the turkey. Fold the felt in half and cut out the shape to make a piece that looks like the other one. Finding a wattle you like might take a few tries, but felt is very cheap, so keep going until you find one you love. The wattle should be stuck to the turkey’s face over its beak on the thumb.
You can put feathers on the fingers in any design or way you like. Even though the glue from a cool glue gun isn’t very hot, be careful because it’s still easy for the glue to go through the feathers. Turn the turkey doll over and add feathers to make it look good on both sides.
Help your preschooler feel like royalty with a delightful handmade autumn crown! Using leaves, flowers, and other natural materials, they can craft a lovely and cheerful crown to wear all season long. Gather the materials while enjoying a nature walk and attach them to a paper band perfect for your child’s head.
Encourage your child to pick out materials with various textures and colors for their crown. It’ll be a fun and creative activity! It’s a wonderful way to enhance their sensory awareness and discover the beauty of nature.
Use a paintbrush to coat a pinecone with white or gold paint. Allow the paint on the pinecone to dry. Apply a small amount of craft glue to the pinecone and adhere a pom pom on top. Repeat the second step all over the pinecone, gluing and attaching pom poms to each small branch until it is fully covered.
Grab a piece of clear contact paper that matches the size of the canvas you want to use. Go ahead and draw a pumpkin shape on the contact paper! Carefully cut out the pumpkin shape using scissors or a craft knife. Gently peel off the backing and place the sticky side of the paper down onto the canvas. Be sure to press down along the whole surface of the contact paper to ensure it’s thoroughly stuck and nicely centered on the canvas.
Put a bit of each color paint on a paper plate. Gently dip a finger into the first color and create cheerful dots all around the exposed canvas. Keep adding the second and third colored fingerprints and wipe your finger clean between each shade. Once all the fingerprints are layered and while the paint is still wet, gently peel off the contact paper. Once you take off the paper, you’ll see a beautifully painted pumpkin shape!
These easy crafts from a preschool in Silver Spring, MD, use materials from nature or around the house and are just right for kids aged 3-5. They also help in developing important skills like fine motor control, creativity, and color recognition! Some projects might need help from adults, like using the hot glue gun for leaf crafts, but these arts and crafts activities are designed especially for kids.
MCCA has been recognized by the Maryland State Legislature for its commitment to Montgomery County issued a quality programs and special needs child care Proclamation in 2016 to MCCA for its commitment to Montgomery County child care for more than 50 years. MCCA was also selected as a 2018 nonprofit finalist for a MOXIE Award for boldness and innovation
MCCA is the oldest nonprofit licensed child care provider in Montgomery County and started its work in 1968 as a Community Action Project of the War on Poverty. Recognizing the need for quality child care programs in their neighborhoods, a group of local activists formed an association to establish centers in Montgomery County that would serve a diverse population and establish high standards for child care. Now, more than 50 years later, MCCA’s dedicated and expertly trained staff continue their tradition of providing high quality child care and play-based education for children.
Families with school aged children who can afford their child care expenses during the school year often struggle to afford the all-day programs they need when school is out for the summer. The Richard Krampf Summer Adventures Scholarship Fund was established to help provide children a safe and stimulating place to spend their weeks when school is out. Please contact an MCCA Director for details on how to apply.