Acorn crafts: instructions for children

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For most kids, not only is crafting with acorns itself a highlight, but also collecting the little tree fruits is great fun and can be wonderfully undertaken together as part of an outing with your children can be tackled. So what are you waiting for? Grab baskets, buckets, or cloth bags and go searching.

You're most likely to find them on a forest walk or on a hiking through fields or parks. The best time for collecting is from September. Now the ripe acorns fall from the trees and are just waiting to be found by you and turned into beautiful decorations.

In Germany you will mostly find acorns from the pedunculate oak or the sessile oak – you'll find both species – both are equally suitable for crafting great works. Make sure to store the acorns dry and store in a cool place, until you begin crafting your autumn decorations. This way you avoid your autumn craft materials starting to mold.

It's best to spread all the acorns out on newspaper and let them dry thoroughly at room temperature for a few days before you turn to your first craft ideas. When collecting with your children, ideally only gather as many acorns as you need for a craft project. Rather go searching again instead, before the natural materials spoil at home.

Autumn crafting inspirations

Materials you'll need for crafting with acorns

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So you can start crafting your best ideas right away, lay out all the required materials and tools ready. Besides the natural materials you collect on autumn walks, you probably already have most of the things already at homeNatural materials

Acorns & acorn caps

Leaves & twigs
Chestnuts with shells
pine cones
dried flowers, fruits, or autumn foliage
nut shells
Craft materials & tools

Toothpicks, matches, or skewers

hand drill
googly eyes
craft glue or
hot glue gunscissors
craft wire & pliers
acrylic & watercolor paints
felt-tip pens & markers
felt in various colors
Not just for chestnuts – hand drills for acorn artworks

The

chestnut drill not only helps you build funny chestnut figures, it also does great work when crafting with acorns. You can drill precise holes with the easy-to-use tool in no time – so even the little ones can pitch in energetically and together with you parents bring the loveliest craft ideas for beautiful decorations to life.

Let's go: What you can craft from acorns

Discover chestnut band drill

DIY craft ideas with acorns are extremely varied and your creativity knows no bounds. When crafting with toddlers, the tree fruits are great for first creative attempts with brush and paint. Your little artists can, as they please,

paint or glue collages create. Together with other natural materials, autumn artworks are created that you can give away or use to decorate your home.Older children, on the other hand, prefer more demanding crafting ideas. Whether

acorn jewelry, funny acorn figurines or a little zoo of different animals – with a hand drill and a bit of skill, wondrous creatures are created that are worth seeing. It's important that, as parents, you always keep an eye on your children while crafting and support them when they need help. The

handling of sharp crafting tools such as knives or drills needs to be learned – therefore never let your kids work alone.Over time, your children learn to use their little hands skillfully when crafting, and fine motor skills are promoted in the process. A good reason to take out the craft supplies more often and spend a creative afternoon together.

Which acorns are suitable for beautiful craft projects?

5 simple tutorials to try at home

Surely you want to start crafting your decorations right away. Not sure yet what exactly you'd like to make? We've collected for you the the five best DIY ideas gathered that you can do together with your children.

Craft idea 1: Cheerful faces from acorns

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Required materials

Acorns with caps
Permanent marker (waterproof) or acrylic paint
Paintbrushes
Googly eyes (optional)
Craft glue (optional)

Instructions:

Choose the nicest acorns with caps from your collection. It's best to put newspaper on the table when crafting to protect it from paint splatters.
Decide how you want your acorn face to look – whether funny, grumpy, cheerful or cheeky, the choice is yours. Draw eyes, mouth and nose with a waterproof pen or acrylic paints and a brush and let it dry well.
Your face will look even livelier if you attach googly eyes to the acorns with a drop of glue.
Your funny autumn faces are ready — you can give them to your friends or use them to decorate your home.

Craft idea 2: Funny acorn men with caps

Required materials:

Acorns
Acorn caps
Knife
Hand drill
Matches
Glue or hot glue

Instructions:

You need three acorns per little acorn man. Choose a large, elongated acorn each for the body and the feet and a slightly smaller one for the head.
Cut a large acorn in half with a sharp knife — these will be the feet of your acorn man. Parents should help their children with this so they don't cut themselves.
Use a hand drill to bore small holes for the arms, legs and eyes.
Drop a little glue into each hole and press the matches into the openings. Remove the match heads from the sticks beforehand. This is how you attach all the limbs to the acorn body.
Use two match heads as the eyes of your little man and glue them into the pre-drilled holes in the head. The caps serve as headgear. Attach them with a little craft glue or hot glue — and your autumn acorn men are finished.

Craft idea 3: Cute acorn mice

Required materials:

Acorns
Acorn caps with stem
Glue or hot glue
Pins
Hand drill
Tree bark or maple seeds
Pliers

Instructions:

Per mouse you need one acorn with cap and stem, three pins, and maple seeds or tree bark for the ears.
Cut off the pins with pliers so only a short end remains. With a hand drill, drill holes for the eyes and the mouse's nose.
Drop some glue into the holes and press the eyes and nose in. Let it dry well.
Apply a little glue to the left and right where the ears go, and press the maple seeds on firmly.
Do the same with the acorn cap at the back of the acorn — that is the tail of your little mouse.

Craft idea 4: Cute kitten made from acorns

Required materials:

2 acorns
6 matches
Hand drill
Glue or hot glue
Magnolia or maple seeds

Instructions:

Choose a large acorn for the cat's body and drill four holes in the bottom for the legs, one for the tail and one for the neck.
Drop some glue into each of the holes and press the matches in. Shorten the match for the neck a bit beforehand.
Also drill a small hole on the underside of the head and attach it with glue.
Once everything is thoroughly dry, take magnolia or maple seeds and glue them on the head as little ears — meow, you've made a cute kitten from acorns.

Craft idea 5: Whimsical acorn wild animals

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Required materials:

Acorns
Acorn caps
Matches
Glue or hot glue
Hand drill
additional natural materials for decoration (optional)

Instructions:

Let your creativity run free when crafting crazy acorn animals. Whether deer, little horses or mythical creatures — you decide which figures you want to make.
Choose a nice acorn for the animal's body and drill four holes in the underside with a hand drill.
Attach matches as legs with a drop of glue. Do the same with a short match for the neck.
Once the head is in place, stick an acorn cap or other natural material on as a hat or headpiece as you like.

More craft ideas for autumn

Of course you can bring great craft projects to life not only with acorns. In autumn you'll find craft materials for beautiful decorations in abundance. Whether chestnuts, colorful autumn leaves, pine cones or fruits and flowers.

More action-packed craft ideas for autumn are of course also possible. How would your children like a colorful kite that you can craft together and later send soaring? HABA has collected great ideas for you that will bring you even more fun and happy autumn days to the whole family.

Crafting with chestnuts

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Crafting with chestnuts is probably the classic under the ideas for individual works of art from autumn materials. Whether toddler or older little crafters – the round, brown fruits are not only eagerly collected, but are also used to fun figures or imaginative decorations further processed.

HABA shows you what matters when crafting with chestnuts and which ideas you can carry out together with your children on the related page.

Craft ideas with chestnuts

Crafting with pine cones

At the roadside in autumn you'll find pine cones in the most shapes and colors. But did you also know that you can craft from the natural materials beautiful works of art craft?

Grab a basket or bag on your next walk with your children and collect cones diligently for creative crafting afternoons. On the topic page HABA has compiled the best ideas for crafting with pine cones for you.

Guide to pine-cone crafting

Make your own kite

Autumn is kite time. What could be nicer than making a kite together with your kids? The advantage: you create a one-of-a-kind, that certainly no other child in the park or on the meadow has.

On HABA's related topic page we show you what to look out for with homemade kites and how you can in no time guarantee a flight-worthy model make.

This is how you make a kite

Crafting with leaves

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Colorful leaves, rustling autumn foliage – as the days slowly become shorter, autumn announces itself. Long walks with the children are now especially enjoyable. While the last rays of sun tickle you, nature shines in all its splendor.

Do you want to admire the colorful leaves as creative autumn decor also admire at home? HABA has compiled for you the best instructions for crafting with leaves to get started right away.

Ideas for crafting with leaves

Frequently asked questions about crafting with acorns

Crafting with acorns | How can crafted artworks made from acorns be made durable?

Once you've crafted the loveliest ideas from your collected acorns, you naturally want to to enjoy your little works of art for as long as possible. It's best to opt for completely dried fruits – leave fresh acorns to dry at room temperature for a few days or put them in the oven at a low temperature for an hour.

If you later spray your crafts with hairspray, you seal the pores and your self-made little men and figures will also gain a nice shine.

Crafting with acorns | Are acorns edible?

Yes, provided that all Tannins have been removed from the fruits. To do this, crack the shell of the acorns and also remove the seed coat. Now place them for several days in a bowl of water. You will see the liquid gradually turn yellowish. Change the water at least once daily with fresh water. If the water is clear after a few days, the acorns are ready to eat.

Warning:Make sure beforehand that the acorns are from species native to Germany, such as pedunculate oak or sessile oak. These are — if you have prepared them as described above — non-toxic. Never allow your kids to eat acorns raw, as the tannins can cause gastrointestinal upset.

Crafting with acorns | What else can acorns – besides crafting – be used for?

Acorns are true all-rounders. If you've collected too many of the tree fruits, here are some ideas for Further use:

After you've made the acorns edible, you can process them into flour and bake delicious recipes with your children. They also taste particularly good roasted acorns – an alternative to classic chestnuts.

If you don't want to eat the little tree fruits yourselves, many wild animals such as roe deer, deer or wild boar for a tasty snack. Use a visit to the wildlife park to feed acorns to the animals living there – of course only in consultation with the park management.

Discover even more