5 Fall Crafts for Kids

1. Rainbow Pumpkins

2. Apple Stamps

This is an oldie but goodie in my book. Just chop an apple in half (through the middle, not stem to end) and the center seeds make a star shape. Dip the cut edges in paint, and stamp away. My kids love this because it’s special; I only bust this out when apples are on our tree ready for picking.

3. Marshmallow Stamps

We were munching on mallows while crafting, and Henry used his as a stamp (just a regular sized marshmallow). Again, they loved it because it was special, and it worked incredibly well.

One of the things that I liked about marshmallow stamping was that it was easy to assign one marshmallow to each color of paint. Sometimes the only paintings I have on my fridge are brownish-black because the kids just swirl all the colors together when painting with a brush. The marshmallows were fat enough for my fifteen-month-old to manage on his own, too; I just had to make sure he didn’t eat what he was painting with!

The marshmallow stamps would make great fall leaves on a tree or apples the kids could add a stem to if you are wanting a little more direction than polka-dots.

4. Painted Clay Shapes & Magnets

I found a really neat clay, similar to salt dough, but the result is much nicer and pure white. It’s made by cooking baking soda, corn starch, and water on the stove until it makes a dough. I rolled it out like cookies and then used cookie cutters to cut fall shapes (apples, leaves, pumpkins). You just bake the clay in the oven to harden it, and you are ready to paint.

The recipe and detailed instructions to make this great, plain white modeling clay can be found at The Woodside Kitchen. I glued a round magnet to the back of these to turn them into fun fridge decor.

5. Watercolor & Ink-Blown Shadow Trees

This post was originally published in 2012, and has been updated and rephotographed in October 2019.

These are quick and easy ideas for 5 fall crafts for kids, and I’m sure you have all the stuff at home to do them. Just lay out all the supplies, whip up of a batch of homemade graham crackers for a snack, turn on your favorite Halloween tunes, and surprise your kids when they walk in the door from school. You’ll have a fridge full of art before dinner. If you try any of these I’d love to know about it. Thanks so much for reading, and happy crafting to you.