Little Things MadeKids Craft
9 Fun Fall Activities & Crafts for Kids
Fall is prime time for free, low-mess activities that keep kids and toddlers busy for hours — rain or shine. Between Dollar Tree pumpkins, backyard leaves, and the pipe cleaners already in our craft bin, most of these cost next to nothing and come together with things you probably already have at home. Here are 9 of our favorite fall activities and crafts for kids, from a five-minute nature scavenger hunt to a full afternoon paper mache project.
1. Paint Water Gun on Canvas
Fill a few water guns with thinned-down paint and let the kids squirt a blank canvas in the backyard — instant abstract art, and a great way to burn off energy on a warm fall afternoon. Lay the canvas flat on the grass, hand out old clothes, and let them go until it's full.
2. Indoor Treasure Hunt
On a rainy fall day, draw a simple treasure map of your own house — the couch, the coffee table, the coat closet, the stairs — and hide a small prize at the X. Ours was drawn on a torn piece of craft paper for an old-map look, but plain printer paper works just as well.
3. Dollar Tree Wreath
A fall wreath built almost entirely from Dollar Tree finds: faux leaves, mini velvet pumpkins, and a floral pick or two, all hot glued onto a cardboard ring. It's one of our favorite budget projects, and simple enough for kids to help arrange the leaves.
4. Paper Mache Pumpkin
A classic paper mache pumpkin built over a balloon and shaped with a length of rope to get real pumpkin ridges. It takes a few days with drying time, but the technique itself is simple enough for kids to help with the messiest parts.
5. Leaf Art
Collect a handful of fall leaves and use them as stamps: dab the underside, where the veins stand out most, with paint and press it onto canvas or paper. No two prints turn out the same, and it's a good excuse to talk about the different leaf shapes you find outside.
6. Find Each Colour in Nature
Draw a row of colored dots down a sheet of paper and send the kids outside to find something in nature that matches each one — a leaf, a flower, a twig. Tape each find next to its colour as you go. It turns a regular walk into a little scavenger hunt, and it's a nice, screen-free way to slow down outside.
7. Leaf Person
Turn a single fall leaf into a tiny character with googly eyes, a rhinestone or button for a nose, then draw arms, a smile and legs with a marker and glue onto craft paper. A simple, low-mess craft that works with whatever leaves you happen to find outside.
8. Pipe Cleaner Spider or Cyclops
Twist a few pipe cleaners together, bend them into legs, and glue on googly eyes for an instant Halloween-ready spider — glittery pipe cleaners make it extra fun. Use a pom-pom for the body if you want something a little softer, or leave it fuzzy and spindly as-is. The same twisting technique makes a one-eyed pipe cleaner cyclops, too.
9. Sock Pumpkin
Stuff a plain sock with rice, beans, or stuffing, tie it off with twine to create pumpkin ridges, and finish with a real stick or cinnamon stick for the stem. Add a leaf and a button for a finishing touch. It's one of the easiest no-sew fall decorations we make every year.
Result
Nine free or nearly-free ways to fill a fall afternoon with kids and toddlers, indoors or out — no special supplies required, just Dollar Tree basics and things already sitting in the craft bin.