Autumn crafts with children: ideas, tips & instructions

Suitable natural materials for autumn crafts

Herbstbasteln mit Kindern | Kastanien,Tannenzapfen, Eicheln

In autumn nature becomes really colorful: the leaves turn red and yellow, chestnuts, acorns and pine cones fall from the trees. In this special season you can find crafting materials in abundance in nature. The best time for a cozy craft afternoon with your children.

Plan your crafting session right after your next walk in the woods or park: Collect the materials you need with your children and decide together, which beautiful natural materials are suitable for autumn decorations. This way your children are already enthusiastically involved while collecting, and afterwards you can let your creativity run free.

Keep an eye out for the following natural materials:

Chestnuts
Acorns
Autumn leaves
Pine cones
Pumpkins
Branches
Flowers
Moss

Tip: If you decide to craft spontaneously, you'll find plenty of crafting materials for lovely autumn crafts and autumn decorations. So off you go outside and the fun can begin.

Discover autumn craft ideas

Why is crafting with children so special in autumn?

Herbstbasteln mit Kindern | Warum ist Basteln mit Kindern im Herbst so besonders?

Autumn crafting with colorful natural materials is great fun and simultaneously promotes creativity and dexterity in the little crafters. When collecting natural materials you spend precious family time in the fresh air, explore nature together and your children discover what special things await them outside. The subsequent crafting with natural materials stimulates the imagination and lets your children touch, feel, and smell nature. The cutting, gluing and folding playfully promote their fine motor skills and tactile sensitivity.

Quick autumn craft guides for children of all ages

Now quickly unpack the craft supplies and off you go. We've put together great autumn craft ideas assembled, with something for every age and taste:

Make a small pumpkin lantern

Materials needed:

Electric tealight
small pumpkin
kitchen knife
tablespoon
craft knife
apple corer

How to:

For the lid, cut off the top third of a small pumpkin straight with a kitchen knife.
Scoop out the insides of both pieces with a tablespoon.
Cut triangles into the lid with a craft knife and remove them.
Use an apple corer to make holes all around the lower half.
Clean the inner base and scrape the walls clean with the spoon.
Place a tealight inside and put the lid on after lighting it.

Download craft instructions

DIY nature weaving frame

A weaving frame can be 'played' with again and again and never gets boring. In every season and for every celebration there is something new in nature to be found that can be woven in. In autumn it becomes especially colorful:

Materials needed:

2 equally long wooden stakes
2 equally long branches
kitchen twine
nails & hammer or screws & cordless drill
any imaginable (natural) materials for weaving

How to:

Drive the two wooden stakes into the ground. Choose the distance between the stakes so that the branches can be attached well and overhang a bit on both sides.
Fasten the branches securely to the stakes - if you like with nails or screws. It's also possible to attach the branches crosswise with twine.
Stretch the warp threads between the two branches with kitchen twine and tie them tight. The more threads you stretch, the more options children have to weave.
Collect grasses, ferns, leaves, long-stemmed flowers, feathers - whatever your heart desires and whatever the eagle eye spots...
Now the big weaving can begin. Gradually your children thread all the collected treasures onto the cords until a small nature artwork has emerged.

Make leaf pictures

Herbstbasteln mit Kindern | Blätter-Bilder basteln

Materials needed:

lots of colorful autumn leaves
colored construction paper
glue
pens/markers
craft scissors
watercolors or colored pencils

Here's how:

Collect lots of colorful autumn leaves outside. The more varied the leaves are, the more creative your pictures will be.
Cut several ovals and the lion's head from the construction paper according to the instructions.
Paint the head however you like with watercolors or pens/markers.
Now glue on your autumn leaves and decorate the lion alternately with the oval construction paper and the leaves. Your fearsome lion is ready - grrrrr!

Make potato prints

Herbstbasteln mit Kindern | Kartoffeldrucke herstellen

Potatoes taste delicious and are perfect for making imaginative stamps. We'll show you how you can conjure up great prints and pictures with homemade potato stamps.

Materials needed:

potatoes
knife
marker
small cutting board
paper
watercolors or colorful finger paints

Here's how:

Cut the potatoes in half with a knife. Important: Always together with an adult!
Think of nice shapes like stars, hearts or triangles and draw them on the halved potatoes. Then carefully cut away the edges together so that only the desired shape remains.
Now the little ones can get started even without help. Simply dip the potato stamps into the paint and start stamping.

Make lanterns

Herbstbasteln mit Kindern | Laternen basteln

When St. Martin is around the corner, lantern-making begins everywhere. Do you also want to make a colorful lantern at home? We'll show you how to do it.

Materials needed:

balloon
wallpaper paste
translucent paper
scissors
optional: autumn leaves
a bowl of water
brush

Here's how:

Pump up the balloon until it reaches the desired size and tie it off. Your lantern will be as big as the balloon you inflated.
Stir a few teaspoons of paste into the bowl of water. Let the mixture sit for a while until it thickens.
Tear the translucent paper into pieces of any size by hand.
Brush the balloon well with paste and stick small pieces of translucent paper or colorful leaves onto it.
Glue on several layers of paper or leaves so the lantern becomes as sturdy as possible. When everything is covered, hang the balloon up and let it dry - this can take several days.
When the lantern is dry, carefully pierce the balloon with the scissors and let it burst. Then carefully pull it off the paper so the lantern doesn't tear. Cut an opening in the top of the lantern in the desired size and drill two holes at the top through which you thread a wire. Now just hang it on the glow stick and off you go!

Autumn Journal

Herbstbasteln mit Kindern | Herbst-Tagebuch

A journal is a great way to capture exciting adventures and special experiences forever. We'll show you how you can make a very personal autumn journal with your children.

Materials needed:

sturdy paper
pens
scissors
ruler
pencil
hole punch
string
optional stickers or glitter
glue

How to make it:

Cut the sturdy paper to the size you want the journal to be.
Take as many pages as you think you can fill. Stack all pages and punch holes along the edge.
The first page is your cover – decorate it individually with stickers, glitter, or autumn leaves.
Now tie all the pages together with string.
Use a pencil and ruler to draw fine lines so your entries look neat, because it's easier to write on lines.
Take a moment each evening to write your experiences in your journal. Also glue in photos so you can remember the special moments even better later.

Herbarium of autumn plants and flowers

Herbstbasteln mit Kindern | Herbarium mit Herbstpflanzen und -blumen

In a herbarium, autumn flowers and leaves that you collected with your children can find a place. This way you create a beautiful keepsake of autumn that you can flip through and reminisce about next year.

Materials needed

various leaves and autumn flowers
A4 cardboard
hole punch
glue
pens
scissors
string
paper towels
a heavy book (e.g., an encyclopedia)

This is how it's done!

Choose the nicest flowers and leaves that you'd like to glue into your herbarium. Place them to dry between two sheets of paper towel in the middle of a heavy book. Now a bit of patience is required: it takes 1-2 weeks for the materials to dry and be ready to glue in.
Arrange the flowers and leaves on the cardboard pages. If you like the position, glue them down with craft glue.
Now label each autumn item with its species. If you like, also write down nice memories: where did you find the leaf or what else happened that day?
Now stack all the cardboard pages and punch holes along one side. Tie all the pages together with string – and your personal autumn herbarium is ready.

Making lanterns

Herbstbasteln mit Kindern | Windlichter basteln

For atmospheric lanterns you only need a few materials. In no time you'll have created a great autumn decoration that makes autumn evenings at home even cozier.

Materials needed:

old jars or mason jars
wallpaper paste
colored tissue paper in autumn tones
a glass of cold water
paintbrush

How to make it:

Place the rinsed and dried jars in front of you on the table.
Put a heaped teaspoon of wallpaper paste into the glass of water and stir the mixture well until no lumps remain. Let the mixture sit for a few minutes until the paste thickens.
Now tear the tissue paper into many small pieces.
Brush the paste onto the jars with a paintbrush.
Stick the tissue paper pieces on as you like. A mosaic-like arrangement is possible, as are specific figures or shapes.
Let your lanterns dry well, preferably overnight.
Place an electric tealight in the jar: your homemade lantern is ready!

Take to the skies: Kite making made easy

Herbstbasteln mit Kindern | Ab in die Lüfte: Drachen basteln leichtgemacht

The autumn wind is perfect for flying colorful kites. Whether on the meadow, in the park or in the garden – children are amazed every time a kite takes to the skies. It's even more spectacular when you have made the kite yourself. We'll show you what to consider when building a flying kite and how you can make a flyable model with your children.

To the instructions

Crafting with pine cones

Herbstbasteln mit Kindern | Basteln mit Tannenzapfen

Pine cones come in different shapes and sizes. They are perfect for crafting fun figures and autumn decorations for the home. Use the next rainy day to showcase your collected pine cones. How does that work? With our autumn craft ideas using pine cones, you'll succeed in no time.

Our pine cone craft ideas

Carving spooky pumpkins

Herbstbasteln mit Kindern | Gruselige Kürbisse schnitzen

On Halloween, the scare factor takes center stage (and of course collecting sweets!). With a self-carved pumpkin the spooky decoration is perfect. The funny pumpkin faces look especially good as autumnal decorations on the windowsill or in the stairwell. We'll show you on this page how to carve spooky faces out of pumpkins.

Pumpkin carving – here's how

Frequently Asked Questions about Autumn Crafts

From what age are children ready for autumn crafting?

Crafting, painting and getting messy is fun and children as young as one year are already ready for a lot of crafting fun in autumn. Once the child can hold a pen securely in their hands, there's no stopping them. But be careful with sharp craft tools or scissors – even if children from about two years old can already cut with children's scissors, you should never leave your little craft mice unattended!

Which objects can toddlers create independently in autumn?

Even toddlers are fascinated by autumn crafts and by the exciting play with colors and shapes in the process. In autumn there are various natural materials that children can paint and decorate themselves can. With some acrylic or water-based paint, the little artists can have fun to their heart's content. Colorfully painted pine cones or chestnuts look great and roll around cheerfully. You can glue the painted autumn leaves onto a nice picture together or use them to print on paper or fabric bags.

In which months can you find materials for autumn crafts?

Chestnuts, acorns, pine cones and colorful autumn leaves are among the most popular craft materials in autumn:

The chestnut season begins here around August – then the chestnut trees bear their fruit. These fall off gradually and then lie on the ground. Especially from September to October you can find enough craft materials related to chestnuts in forests, parks and gardens.
The Acorns ripen between September and October. The initially green fruits ripen during this time and turn brown before they fall from the trees.
The first autumn leaves can already be be collected in late summer. To prepare for winter, the trees gradually withdraw nutrients from their leaves, causing them to change color and fall from the tree.
The Pine cones ripen between October and November and remain on the tree until spring. Those who want to collect materials for autumn crafting early enough have the chance, from the end of July, to find enough pine cones on the forest floor beneath many native conifers.