Four Simple Fall Crafts for Preschoolers

Now that the air is cooling and fall is just around the corner, the kids are going to be spending more time indoors. With the added limitations imposed by social distancing measures due to COVID-19, it is more important than ever to get creative and come up with arts and crafts to keep your preschooler entertained!

Fall is a time of change in the weather, landscape and wildlife. Crafts can be a great way to teach children about the basic knowledge of this time of year! Creating animals out of different materials or replicating fall landscapes are strong places to start.

Pipe-Cleaner Spiders

Not a good option for the arachnophobic adults in the room! Spiders made out of pipe-cleaners can look frighteningly close to reality if executed well. However, this could be a great idea for preschoolers to get their first taste of arts and crafts while teaching them that spiders are not necessarily to be feared. With spiders making increased appearances in the fall, it’s the perfect opportunity to give this craft a go.

The supplies you will need for pipe-cleaner spiders

Method:

• Fold one of your pipe-cleaners into three equal parts, forming a triangle.

• Using your scissors, cut the pipe-cleaner at the areas where two sides of the triangle meet. You should be left with three equal parts.

• Putting one of your parts next to your second pipe-cleaner, cut an identical length off the second pipe-cleaner. This will leave you with four ‘spider legs’ and one longer section of pipe-cleaner for the spider’s body.

• Proceed to wrap one end of the longest pipe-cleaner around your finger, twice. Wrap the remainder into a pencil, before tucking the end into the spiral to form the spider’s body.

• You can now attach one leg by twisting it between the two spirals of the body.

• Continue to do the same with all remaining legs until you have a creation resembling a spider! From here, feel free to twist the legs into a more realistic shape.

This is a fairly simple fall craft to show your preschooler. Just be careful not to leave it laying on the floor to be discovered by an unsuspecting arachnophobe!

Pumpkin designs

Fall means one big thing - Halloween! Start to teach your preschooler about Halloween traditions by having them create pumpkin crafts.

One idea that is particularly therapeutic is ‘yarn pumpkins’. These are pumpkin crafts made out of cardboard and yarn.

The supplies you will need for yarn pumpkins

An important note - good quality yarn and adhesive are essential to a successful yarn pumpkin! It is less likely to tear and become a frustration.

Method:

• Either print out and cut your pumpkin template or draw your own template.

• Coat the cardboard pumpkin in glue.

• Tape an end of your yarn to the pumpkin and begin wrapping it around the template.

• Continue to wrap the yarn around and around and watch your pumpkin grow! You can also experiment with different colors of yarn.

• Tie off the ends of the yarn when finished. You now have an easily-made pumpkin for Halloween.

The best thing about yarn pumpkins is that they are really easy to design. Your child will have plenty of fun wrapping the yarn around the template and watching the pumpkin get larger in real time.

Tissue paper leaves

Of course, one of the most noteworthy things about fall is the beautiful colors adopted by leaves on trees. Between vibrant shades of yellow, red and orange, leaves of this color are one of the most obvious hallmarks of fall.

Creating leaves out of tissue paper is a really easy way for your kids to replicate the beauty of fall inside your home.

The end product: tissue paper leaves for fall

For this, you’ll need printed templates of leaves of different shapes and sizes to keep things interesting. You are also going to need tissue paper in fall colors, some white glue and a pair of scissors.

Method:

• After printing your large leaf templates, cut your tissue paper into relatively small squares (younger kids will find slightly larger squares more manageable).

• Coat a section of the leaves in glue.

• Crumple your squares into a rough ball shape.

• Apply pressure, pushing the crumpled paper into the glue. Now, feel free to decorate each leaf with the colors that you wish!

Possibly the easiest option on this list of fall craft ideas, even the youngest of kids will enjoy the simple task of decorating leaves with colorful tissue paper.

Thanksgiving turkey balloons

With Thanksgiving on the horizon in November, there’s not a better time to start thinking about fall crafts related to the holiday season.

Cute Thanksgiving turkey balloons are a great idea for young children to create and enjoy in the lead up to the day itself.

Thanksgiving turkey balloons float high above the table!

What you’ll need to create Thanksgiving turkey balloons

Method:

• Inflate your balloons with helium. Remember that you should inflate them close to Thanksgiving, or even on the day itself, if you want them to remain full!

• Tape a piece of string to the middle of the balloon with tape. This will form the underside of the turkey.

• Use your hot glue gun on a low setting to add googly eyes and a beak to the balloon. You can cut your beak from paper.

• Add around six feathers to the back of your balloon by adding glue to the tip of the feather.

Obviously, it isn’t wise to let your kids handle a glue gun if they aren’t ready. However, there are still fun ways for young children to participate in this, from cutting the beak and attaching the eyes, to selecting the feathers for each turkey.

There you have it! Four excellent ideas for some interactive fall crafts sessions with your preschooler. Not only will they begin to learn about the amazing things that the fall season has to offer, but they’ll also enjoy spending some quality time making fun designs with you.

---

Jack Vale is a writer for Seattle Fabrics, an outdoor and recreational fabric retailer.