Materials

• Craft tray
• Printout (we did ours on cardstock) 
  
• Pencil crayons, markers, paint- whatever medium you would like!
• Colourful paper (for backing)
• Scissors
• Glue stick
• Hole punch
• Beads (optional)
• Cord

We always find a smock helpful too:

Directions

• Print out the provided tags on cardstock.

• Don your smock.  We went with painting our leaves, but you could colour them in with crayons, pencil crayons, markers- whatever you like!  Our son drew the leaves for you!  Allow to dry.

•  Cut out your tags.

•  Glue the back of the tags and adhere them to your bright backing papers.

•  We then cut out the tags again, creating a border with the bright paper.  Punch a hole on the circle in the corner of the tag.

• Write your name on the provided line.

•  Attach your tags to your gifts with your cord.  We also added a bead as an accent.

Purpose

• Expressing gratitude
• Providing real-life opportunities for writing one’s name
• Developing one’s fine motor skills (writing, cutting, painting etc.)

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you wear a smock and use a craft tray to protect your clothing and surfaces.
• Use scissors with care and adult supervision.
• Cord, yarn etc. can be a strangulation hazard, therefore be sure to use with direct supervision and for its intended purpose.
• Beads can be a choking hazard therefore be sure to keep them out of the reach of children ages 0-3 years of age or those that tend to put things into their mouths.

http://www.mericherry.com/2015/09/07/30-invitations-to-play-challenge-join-me/

*Our son was experienced with spin art, but the glitter was a new addition-  he loved it and was quite engaged for a good portion of the afternoon, we highly recommend it after you have tried paint.  However, spin art may be new to you, so we also included a few tips and starting points that might assist in the process.*

Materials

• Salad spinner (we use this old one only for crafts)
• Paper (we went with black cardstock)
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Glue (white craft glue)
• Sparkles
• Glitter glue
• Craft tray
• Old Knife (for removing the paper circles)

We always find a smock helpful too:

Directions

• Don your smock.

• Depending on your child’s age and abilities, have them cut out circles out of your paper the size of the bottom of the insert for your salad spinner.  (You could also do this in advance.)  We happen to have this circular lid that is just the right size for ours so we used a pencil, traced around it and then cut our circles out.

• Insert your paper into the bottom of your spinner.

• As my son was experienced with spin art this was more of an experiment/ discovery process with the materials:

(The results of each follow each method)

Glitter Glue

• First he tried squirting glitter glue, adding the lid and spinning it.

Glitter Glue & Glitter

• He followed the same method as above, but experimented with adding glitter to various parts of the design and then spinning the piece again.

Glue and Glitter

• He added glue and then spun it around.

• He then added sparkles to the glue pattern.

• He then altered the size of the glitter flakes (combining large and fine glitter):

• And then wanted to see what would happen with a word, adding a friend’s name:

• He further experimented with changing the paper shape:

• And adding objects:

(Which the next day he turned into a necklace for his sister while she was at a birthday party!  We thought the pipe cleaner beads were quite a clever addition!)

Clean-Up

• We have a special container for mixed glitter.  We took our craft tray, slightly tipped it, made a funnel out of paper and gently and slowly brushed it into the container.  However, as with all glitter activities, it is also good to have a vacuum on hand!

• Spin art is a great way to explore and discuss centripetal force!  Are there art projects that you have done that lend to science explorations?  We would love to hear about them!

Purpose

• Learning about force
• Developing things

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you wear a smock and use a craft tray to protect your clothing and surfaces.
• Use scissors with care and adult supervision.

Necklace:

• Cord, yarn etc. can be a strangulation hazard, therefore be sure to use with direct supervision and for its intended purpose.
• Beads can be a choking hazard therefore be sure to keep them out of the reach of children ages 0-3 years of age or those that tend to put things into their mouths.

This activity was invited to be on The Resourceful Mama’s Kid-Made Link Party!  Check it out for all sorts of other fun for children both at home and in the classroom:

http://www.theresourcefulmama.com/made-for-kids-link-party-1/

Materials

• Watercolour paper
• Watercolour paint
• Paint tray
• Acrylic gloss (*Optional if you want shiny leaves)
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Beads
• Twine
• Hole punch

We always find these items helpful too:

• Smock
• Craft tray

Directions

• Go on a nature walk, observing, collecting and/or documenting fall leaves for inspiration, looking at the colours and shapes.

• Don your smock.  Paint several sheets of watercolour paper with fall leaf colours.  We mixed our primary colours to form secondary colours.  If you would like shiny leaves add a bit of acrylic gloss to your watercolour paint.  Allow to dry overnight.

• On your paper sketch out your leaves and then cut them out.

• Punch holes in your leaves.  You could go with one or two to stabilize them.

• Thread your leaves and beads onto your garland.

• Enjoy!

Purpose

• Observing, collecting and/or documenting changes in the season and creating a likeness.
• Developing one’s fine motor skills and gaining familiarity with a variety of tools and techniques.

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you wear a smock and use a craft tray to protect your clothing and surfaces.
• Use scissors with care and adult supervision.
• Cord, yarn etc. can be a strangulation hazard, therefore be sure to use with direct supervision and for its intended purpose.
• Beads can be a choking hazard therefore be sure to keep them out of the reach of children ages 0-3 years of age or those that tend to put things into their mouths.

Check out the full tutorial (and lots of other fun projects!) at:

http://www.hellowonderful.co/post/KID-MADE-FELT-LEAF-TABLE-RUNNER

Materials

• Craft tray
• Paints
• Brushes
• Scissors
• Pencil/eraser
• Paper rolls

We always a smock helpful too! 

Directions

• Don your smock.

• Cut your paper roll in half.

• On one side draw a tree, extending off the edges as shown.

• Cut out/off the negative space (in between the branches) as shown, to form your tree.

• Paint your trees.  Allow to dry overnight.  Paint the other side and allow to dry overnight.  Apply as many layers as you like.

• We then rolled up our tree and inserted it into another paper roll for it to form back it back into a cylinder, leaving it overnight.

• Like the idea, but don’t want the lines of the paper roll?  Then use a thick paper or thin cardboard (e.g., cereal box thickness) instead.

• Insert your napkins and enjoy a meal with family and/or friends!

Purpose

• Learning about negative space.
• Contributing to family celebrations.

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you wear a smock and use a craft tray to protect your clothing and surfaces.
• Use scissors with care and adult supervision.

Materials

• Camera (optional for capturing inspirations*)

• Paper, pencil, eraser
• Relief or Model materials (clay, popsicle sticks, building blocks etc.  We went with plasticine as inspired by the work of Barbara Reid  http://www.barbarareid.ca/home.html.)

Depending on your material choice, we always find these items helpful too:

• Smock
• Craft tray

Directions

• Use a nature walk, a trip to a museum, science centre, historical site etc. as inspiration.  Here is a bit of ours:

• Sketch or plan out your idea.

• Create your relief or model out of a material of your choice.

• I loved it when I asked the kids if they needed any help with kneading and my daughter replied, “We will start you off with little ball and see how you do!”

• Be sure to test out your tools prior to use!

• Here is his sister’s interpretation!

• Here is a model of a dinosaur in K’Nex that our eldest son made after he saw a Science Centre’s exhibit, transferring his knowledge to a different material and construction process.

Purpose

• Observing, recording and creating models

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you wear a smock and use a craft tray to protect your clothing and surfaces.
• Use scissors with care and adult supervision.

Materials

• Branches/ sticks
• Watercolour paper
• Scissors
• Watercolour paint (we diluted ours in a paint tray with a little bit of water)
• Paintbrush
• Pencil/eraser
• Hole punch
• Thin, black, permanent marker

We always find these items helpful too:

• Smock
• Craft tray

Directions

• Go on a nature walk with an adult to collect fallen sticks/ branches and to get inspiration for what birds look like.  You can draw on the characteristics of real birds or you can create from your imagination.

• Don your smock.

• Sketch out your birds.  You don’t want to make your birds too big or they will not be able to stand on their chenille stem legs!  One easy way to make sure that this doesn’t happen is to cut your paper into reasonable size rectangles or squares beforehand.

• Paint your birds and allow them to dry overnight.

• Outline your details and pencil lines with a black, permanent marker.

• Cut out your birds.  You will notice that we cut off the feet, however,  drawing them gave us an idea as to where the legs might be placed.

• Punch two holes for the legs.

• Lace your chenille stem through a hole and fold it in half. Twist it and then wrap the end around your branch, making a perch for your bird.

• Display your birds on a shelf to share with family and/or friends!

Purpose

• Getting out into nature
• Exploring watercolour paint (For example our son said, after working with a few birds,  ”When I paint around the outside of where I want the paint to be and then the inside to fill it in, I control the paint rather than it controls me.”)

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you wear a smock and use a craft tray to protect your clothing and surfaces.
• Use scissors with care and adult supervision.

This activity was featured on:

http://www.hellowonderful.co/post/NATURE-SPRAY-PAINTING-WITH-KIDS

Check them out for all sorts of Fall inspired crafts!

Materials

• Watercolour paper
• Watercolour paints (we used a few colours, but one of them seemed to have migrated out of the photo…)
• Fine mist spray bottle(s)
• Funnel
• Craft tray
• Items to make the negative image (Plants, shells or household items that can lie flat)
• Water (*Optional if you want to dilute your paint)

We always find a smock helpful!

Directions

• Don your smock.

• Lay your paper in your craft tray.  Lie your items on top .  For this first one we used clippings from our hedge.

• Using your funnel, put approximately a few tablespoons of water into your spray bottle.  Add drops of watercolour paint until you get your desired colour.  If you want stronger colours, skip the water.  You could also use several spray bottles, one for each colour.

• Spray over your items, being careful not to move them.

• Add other colours into your spray bottle (this is a perfect time to learn about primary and secondary colours) and spray your page throughly.

• Allow to dry overnight and then carefully remove your items, revealing the negative image that they created!

Purpose

• Learning about positive and negative space
• Developing one’s motor skills (using a funnel, compressing a spray bottle button etc.)

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you wear a smock and use a craft tray to protect your clothing and surfaces.
• DO NOT use a spray bottle that once contained chemicals (cleaners etc.) for safety reasons.