Fall Leaf Craft

 

A simple fall leaf craft that introduces gluing.

Look out people, we got a little crafty around here for the first week of Fall.

Don’t worry: it was nothing impressive, Martha Stewart still does NOT know who I am, and truth be told Fall Leaf Craft is more of an activity than a craft (if there is a difference between the two).

My “reason” for doing this project with my toddler was to introduce him to Fall and to gluing. Oh and to make it to nap time. We haven’t used glue sticks before and I wanted to show him how magical they are.

Prepping this Fall Leaf Craft takes just seconds!

Materials:
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• White construction paper
• Crayons
• Glue stick (this is one of my favorite kinds)
• Leaves

I am not a crafty, arty person so I drew the best bare tree I could. Thank goodness my son is a regular toddler and not a toddler art critic (wink). I had hoped he would want color the little tree, but he just wasn’t into that. Oh well, it wasn’t t my hill to die on that day. So what if he didn’t want to color a tree? Hopefully your toddler will!

Head outside and grab some leaves!

We grabbed a plastic container and headed outside to look for leaves to decorate our bare little tree with. This gave us a chance to play outside, get some fresh air, and have a minute to pause and investigate all the leaves falling in our yard.

We looked at the colors and compared them to the leaves that are still green. It was a great chance to introduce this brand new concept to my toddler: Fall. (No joke there: I have to remember sometimes that he doesn’t remember this from last year and it’s all new to him!)

Introducing a glue stick to a toddler

We took the leaves inside and I pulled out the mother of all toddler craft supplies: a glue stick. The key to success with a toddler and a glue stick (other than close supervision) is modeling. I modeled how to use the glue stick, we did it together for a while, and then he took the lead.

This.Was.Awesome. He loved working with the glue stick and I was beyond thrilled that he actually did this project through to the end (minus the part where he didn’t color the tree).

Toward the end, he really got the hang of it and that was so cool to see. It’s fun unlocking new skills in toddlers, isn’t it?

In this activity, my toddler got to:

• Explore nature
• Learn about a season
• Work with his hands
• Learn a new practical life skill (gluing)

Will you try this fall leaf craft at your house?

We loved doing this fall leaf craft and I definitely see more gluing activities in the future. And we will definitely do this activity again next year! This was a solid 20 minute activity for absolutely no cost.