This festive Autumn Tree with Leaf Sprinkles craft was simple and fun for both of my boys…and it definitely highlighted their own unique personalities!  Big Brother had the added bonus of some fine motor practice by tearing the leaves in tiny pieces.

Here’s what you’ll need for this craft:  crunchy leaves, a bag for each child to hold collected leaves, a piece of white paper, markers, and liquid glue.

1.  Give each child a bag and have him/her gather the crunchiest leaves he/she can find.

2.  Have your child stick his/her hand into the bag and crunch up the leaves.

 3.  On a piece of a paper, draw the outline of a tree.

4.  Have your child color the inside of the tree trunk and branches.  This is where the personality differences of each child came out.  Big Brother (my Type B child) grabbed the marker, scribbled all over, and called it good.

Mr. Type A, on the other hand, spent a solid 15 minutes making sure every last centimeter of that tree trunk was properly colored.

…and a little grass (that only went to the bottom of the tree, not the sides) with a green border.  :)

 5.  Add a thick line of glue on the outside of the branches and a little bit on the ground.

 6.  Sprinkle the leaf pieces onto the wet glue.

 If your child didn’t choose crunchy leaves, have him/her tear the leaves into tiny pieces.

 7.  Let the glue dry completely.

 8.  Once it’s dry, take the paper outside and shake off the excess leaves.

 All done!

 Little Brother was pretty proud of his tree…and so was I!

What is your favorite craft for fall???

This fun Puffy Pumpkin Lacing combines a fun fall craft with a little fine motor practice!  We had lots of fun with this activity today–even Little Brother painted his own bag!  That was all he wanted to do…but Big Brother was more than willing to finish his project for him.  :)

Here’s what you’ll need:  a brown paper bag (we used a paper lunch sack), orange tempera paint, a paintbrush, hole punch, glue stick, cotton balls or polyester filling, orange yarn, and a piece of tape.  If your child wants to embellish his/her pumpkin, you might also want some pom-poms (which we received compliments of CraftProjectIdeas.com) and googly eyes.

 1.  Let your child paint one side of the paper bag.  Let dry.

2.  Turn it over and  paint the other side.  Let dry.

3.  Cut the sack into a circle.

4.  Put a little bit of cotton or polyester batting in the center.  Add some glue to the edges and fold.

5.  Use the hole punch around the outside edges of the pumpkin.

6.  Cut a long piece of orange yarn and add a piece of tape to one end to make it easier to lace.

7.  Give your child the pumpkin and let him/her get started lacing it!

 Now let your child add embellishments, if he/she chooses.

The final product…a festive (and happy) pumpkin!  :)