Day to Day

Kids Autumn Craft - Felt collage

Another autumn craft idea is to create a felt collage. 

We started with an A4 sheet of felt and machine stitched on the dried leaves - you could also glue these on if you prefer (Bella sewed up the middle of each leaf which held it into place nicely).

Then you roll over a small edge at the top of the collage to thread ribbon/raffia/wool through for hanging.  Machine stitch into place - you could also staple this to hold.  Thread ribbon through to finish off (use a safety pin or hairslide on the end of the ribbon to make it easy for the child to thread).

Kids Autumn Craft - handsized tree collage

Yesterday Bella created this autumn tree collage.  What we did was trace around her hands (right down to her elbow) to form the trees and branches.  Then she coloured in her hands and pasted dried leaves on to create the trees.

Dianna questioned if I homeschooled James and Bella.  I've been asked this a few times before as well.  No, I don't homeschool.  Both of my children go to an awesome school close by - I just love doing extra activities with them when they are home.

Something special arrived in my mailbox today - a gorgeous package from Sarah (check out her blog, she makes some really pretty things).  Sarah sent me some beautiful wool and a cool doorstop (you fill the bag with rice).  Thankyou so much Sarah, that was really sweet of you :))

Kids Autumn Craft - leaf books for drawing/writing

Create a super sized nature book to hold drawings, writing, leaf prints or even dried leaf samples.

We used 5 sheets of white a4 paper folded directly in half.  The front cover (from coloured card) measures 30.5cm X 21.5cm (8.5" X 12") and is folded in half also.

Punch two holes in the side of the book (through the a4 paper and front cover) and then get the child to thread ribbon, raffia or wool through this and tie or knot on the side (great for fine motor skills).

Choose a dried leaf for the front cover and use pva glue (or similar) to glue the leaf into position.  Leave to dry.

Kids Autumn Craft - collecting & printing

Today Bella and I went on a walk around the neighbourhood collecting leaves, gumnuts, bark and some other little interesting bits of nature that we found along the way.

In the afternoon we started some autumn craft.   A few months ago several of you asked for more kids craft activities, so I thought over the next week or so I'd share some of the activities that we're doing at home with our nature collection.

These are just very simple ideas, but most importantly fun things to do together that also promote a child's creativity.

Crayon rubbings are an easy and fun way to start. Leaves have some very interesting textures which are prefect for this activity.  It's almost magic when a child can see their leaf transforming onto the top of their paper. 

We hung up a couple of Bella's favourite leaf rubbings in the window.  Another idea is to cut around the individual shapes and create a leaf rubbing collage - glue the shapes onto a piece of card or paper.

A fun messy play activity is leaf printing with paint.  We created a set of cards - simply paint one side of the leaf, position it on your paper or card and press down, rubbing gently.  For smaller children add a sheet of newspaper/paper over the top for the child to rub on - this helps keep the mess to a minimum.