73 Easy Fall Crafts for Kids and Families to Make in 2024
Get the whole crew involved in these fun autumn craft ideas.
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Looking for fun, easy, and creative fall crafts for the kids and family to try this season? Well, we've got you covered! We have a feeling that the gorgeous colors, cozy scents (and blankets), and delicious fall foods will inspire the whole family to create something truly beautiful. To that end, we've put together a list of ideas to help get the creative juices flowing. Thanks to the holidays, Halloween and Thanksgiving included, ideas for fall crafts feel nearly endless. Want a craft that keeps the kids busy, where the end result can work as home decor? Then try crafting a Halloween and fall mantel idea or a fall wreath. Your kids will love that their handiwork is displayed as decor in the family or living room or on the dining room table for all the guests and visitors to see.
From painted pumpkins and pine cone bats to couldn't-be-easier silhouette art, and even Halloween-approved yarn-wrapped mummies, there's something on our list for every occasion—and every budget. Not only will you and your children be able to trace, illustrate, paint, stamp, cut, and glue your way through these fun projects, you'll also get to spend a ton of quality time together, making happy memories that will last a lifetime. And the way we see it, at the end of the day, that's what crafting is really all about. So what are you waiting for? Grab a few pipe cleaners and a couple jars of paint in your favorite fall hues, and encourage your kids to craft, create, and be inspired.
More Fun Ways to Celebrate the Season
Ghost Tree
Fall branches get a spectral treatment with floating ghosts made from polyester batting. Have the kids nestle them in plants, hang from branches–inside and out–or string them into a garland.
To make: Cut squares of polyester batting. Place a ball of Poly-fil in the center of each square. Bring the corners of the batting down towards each other, gathering the batting around the Poly-fil. Tie a piece of white twine or thread just below the Poly-fil to create the head. Insert map tack or sewing pins with black heads into the head of the ghost to create the eyes. Hang with a piece of twine or thread.
Related: Fun Halloween Crafts for Kids
Painted Leaves
Kids will have so much fun drawing foxes, raccoons, and owls on leaves they have gathered from the yard. Plus, they have so many fun applications—turn them into a garland, tuck into treats for school friends or the teacher, or mount on a card to send to the grandparents.
To make: Use acrylic paint pens to draw and paint animal faces on fall leaves, using the shape of the leaf to help determine which animal and where its features are placed.
Pinecone Bats
These friendly faced bats (it's the googly eyes!) have loads of character and texture. We bet the kids won't be able to stop at just one!
To make: Start by cutting bat wings and feet from pieces of cardboard (ribbed corrugated cardboard provides extra texture). Glue wings to the back of a pinecone and feet to the bottom with hot glue. Cut noses and ears from cardboard or brown paper. Use a brown paint pen to draw nostrils on the noses. Attach fangs made from shortened toothpicks or cut from white felt to the back of the noses, if desired; attach to the center of each pinecone with hot glue. Attach ears to the top of each pinecone with hot glue. Glue oblong googly eyes just above the nose.
Lollipop Ghosts
Kids will love crafting these sweet treat ghosts and passing them out to their friends on Halloween!
To make: Cut a 4- to 5-inch circle of fall colored fabric (for added flair use pinking shear). Place the lollipop in the center of the fabric and wrap the fabric down and over a lollipop. Gather the fabric around the handle and hold in place with a piece of jute twine.
Celery Print Cards
When you slice the bottom off the head, the shape mimics that of garden roses! (File that under: "Who knew?!") When dipped into a stamp pad, kids can use it to make everything from stationery to pretty tea towels and extend the summer season into the fall.
To make: Cut 2 to 3 inches off the bottom of a head of celery. Pat the cut end dry with a paper towel. Press the cut end on a stamp pad—choose a classic rose color like yellow or pink, or opt for a personal favorite shade. Place the cut end onto the blank note card, tapping the root side to help make an even print. Once dry, add a sweet greeting.
Branch Bird Feeder
Transform a fallen branch into a feeder where birds can perch and have a quick snack.
To make: Screw a screw-eye bolt into the top of the branch for hanging. Parent should help kids drill holes in a branch using a spade bit. Fill holes with peanut butter, then birdseed. Thread a length of rope through the bolt and hang. Refill as needed.
RELATED:More Bird Feeders to Fill Your Garden with Bird Song
Seed and Bean Flowers
Enjoy flowers even as the weather turn chilly! Take the kids for a quick trip to the kitchen and a stroll around the yard to gather the materials needed to make these perky beans and seed flowers.
To make: Cut flower shapes from cardboard. Use craft glue to glue beans and seeds to the cardboard. Once dry, use hot glue or tape to attach a thin branch to the back of the flowers. Fill small pot with beans and insert sticks.
DIY Tic-Tak-Toe
This mini version of the classic kids game is small enough to travel anywhere! Use any ribbon and button color you have on hand. A pumpkin shaped button for fall would be so cute!
To make: Use craft glue or Steam-a-Seam to attach lengths of ribbon to a small burlap bag. Gather button to use as the game pieces.
SHOP BURLAP BAGS
Sporty Centerpiece
Kids will love celebrating the home team and helping put together the game day centerpiece all fashioned using a vintage football helmet.
To make: Wrap a 3-inch embroidery hoop with jute ribbon, and center the helmet upside down on it. Fill a glass vase with water and place in the helmet; add flowers to vase (here, butterfly ranunculus, chamomile, and brown-eyed Susans).
Easy Pumpkin Perch
Kids can admire their "hard work" in this simple seasonal display all Fall long. It will look great on the mantel, buffet, sideboard, or even as a holiday table centerpiece.
To make: Simple stack small and mini pumpkins on vintage sewing spools and bobbins
Felt Flower Wreath
Enlist the littles to help craft a stunning yet simple to make grapevine and felt flower wreath.
To make: Make or buy felt flowers and leaves. Hot-glue flowers and leaves to a grapevine wreath form and hang with a length of ribbon.
Stadium Blanket
Personalize a wool blanket by “monogramming” it with chenille letters and patches. Choose patches that represent your child's school, initials, or favorite sport. Topstitch onto the blanket or adhere with iron-on fusible tape.
Racquet Pin Board
Help kids keep their rooms in tip-top shape by turning a vintage tennis racquet into a pin board they can use to store school memorabilia, photos, or knickknacks.
To make: Start by removing the stings in the racquet. Next, cut a piece of wood or cardboard that is the same size as the opening. Cut a piece of cork board that is also the same size as the opening. Glue the wood and cork board together then glue into the opening. Screw small hooks into the handle of the racquet for extra storage. To hang, drill a small hole in the top of the frame. Thread a piece of twine through the hole and hang from a nail.
Braided Rope Wreath
For kids who love to braid and wrap items, this is the perfect project to enlist their help.
To make: Wrap a wire wreath form in thin jute rope. Cut six long lengths of the same rope you used to wrap the wreath form. Hot-glue one end of three lengths together. Repeat with the second set of three lengths. Braid rope bundles together. Hot-glue braid to the wreath form. Attach an oversize bow, made from upholstery jute webbing, with hot-glue.
Copper Pumpkins
Kids will love helping apply a few coats of copper colored paint to transform pumpkins into shimmering decor that will look right at home on the kitchen counter or shelves.
Washi Tape-Covered Pumpkins
Simple and impactful, kids will love turning a plain-ole pumpkin into a colorful display.
Make the pumpkin: Fully cover a small or medium pumpkin vertically with lengths of washi tape. Once covered, attach a piece of twine around the base of the stem, holding it in place with hot glue.
Apothecary Jar Pumpkins
Diminutive Honeynut squash make the perfect canvas for replicating vintage apothecary jars.
To make: Print copies of, or purchase, vintage apothecary jar labels. Remove the stem from the squash and dig out a cavity using a potters loop tool. Insert a wine or champagne cork into the cavity. Use matte Mod Podge to adhere the label to the squash. Once dry, proudly display!
Rickrack Pumpkin Face
No carving necessary to create this sweet pumpkin face. Be sure to give kids a helping hand when using a hot glue gun or have them attach the rickrack with black map tacks.
Make the pumpkin: Lightly draw a simple pumpkin face on a pumpkin. Use lengths of black rickrack to cover the drawing, attaching it with hot-glue. Attach small white buttons to the corner of each eye with hot-glue. Cut pumpkin-shaped leaves from green felt and lengths of green rickrack to create tendrils; attach at the base of the pumpkin stem with hot-glue.
Leaf Placecard
Helping set the Thanksgiving table can be a real treat for kids. To create these super sweet place cards, start by sending them out in the yard to collect dry leaves then have them pen the guests' names on the leaves using a paint pen. Voila!
Rickrack Frankenstein
Is he friendly or is he not?! With rickrack spool bolts how could he be anything other than sweet & cuddly.
Make the pumpkin: Cut a length of extra-large black rickrack. Cut a piece of black felt the same length and attach it to the rickrack so that only the bottom “ruffles” are showing. Attach the top of a flat-shaped heirloom pumpkin for hair. Attach two small black buttons to the center of the pumpkin with hot-glue for eyes. Attach a length of thick black cording above the eyes with hot-glue for eyebrow. Attach lengths of medium-size black rickrack to pumpkin with hot-glue for scar and mouth. Wrap two wooden spools with green rickrack and attach to the bottom sides of pumpkin with hot-glue for bolts.
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