Autumn crafts for kids

Autumn is a beautiful season filled with russet reds, burning oranges and berry hues. Which means it's the perfect time to make colourful autumn crafts.

How cute is this little leafy hedgehog?

So quick and easy to make, and a perfect autumn craft for little ones.

Here are the step-by-step instructions

Make some beautiful toadstools for the fairies in your garden.

These are so easy to make - all you need are some champagne corks and red and white paint.

Simply paint the corks red around the top and white on the stem. Then, when they are dry, add dots of white paint to the top.

You can also use a piece of bark to make a fairies sign. Glue it or tape it to a small stick and then push into some red modelling clay to hold in place. Add more white dots in white clay to continue the toadstool theme.

A gorgeous way to decorate leaves you collect on an autumn walk.

Get your children to help you pick a handful of different sized leaves.

Paint a strip of black by the stem to make a little bug face, adding two splodges of white paint for eyes.

Then get creative and paint a symmetrical pattern on the rest of the leaf.

During or after an autumn walk here is a brilliant way to wear the autumnal treasures you find.

Forget loom bands - these nature bands are much cooler!

Simply wrap some tape loosely round your child's wrist, sticky side out. Then challenge them to find all sorts of different leaves and flowers on your treasure hunt.

When they find them, help them stick them to the tape until they've got a colourful band full of autumn treasures.

Another lovely way to use fallen autumn leaves you gather on a walk.

Make these cute leaf critters.

Ask your children to help you find a selection of leaves in different sizes.

Use paint to colour in an eye and a pattern on their bodies.

When they're dry, stick them to a piece of card and add feet, bubbles or tails to complete your leaf critters.

Use corks to print this beautiful autumn tree with all the sumptuous colours of the season.

Take a piece of card and paint a thick tree trunk with empty branches.

Squeeze a blob of two or three different colour paints onto a palette and give your child a clean cork for each colour. Then it's up to them where they put their cork leaves - the more the merrier!

How gorgeous are these tiny, autumnal creatures?

Paint details on acorns and conkers using acrylics. Use a toothpick for the finer details.

A great activity for older children as it takes patience, but the results are so lovely.

Younger children can paint simpler faces on theirs and perhaps add wool for hair and googly eyes.

A simple, but pretty, autumn craft.

Paint branches (or blow watery paint with a straw) onto a piece of card.

Then stick on some colourful buttons for the leaves.

A brilliant activity for all ages.

A twist on marble rolling! Try conker rolling to make a beautiful, marbled painting.

Lie a piece of coloured card at the bottom of a shallow dish and squeeze a blob of two or three different colour paints onto the card.

Then drop in a few conkers and move the dish around so the conkers get covered in paint and make patterns on the card. Voila, a brilliant abstract painting!

An easy peasy, quick little make.

Carefully lift off the acorn cups and glue wool on the top of the acorn for hair before gluing the cup back on top.

Use Sharpies or paint to make the eyes and mouth. These would also look nice made into necklaces with leather thread.

Pine cones can be transformed into cute little people or animals with a bit of imagination.

Here, we made a tiny owl, sticking on eyes and using pipe cleaners and wool as details. You can add feathers or shapes cut from felt or card and acorn cups look sweet as eyes, too.

Easy peasy, but oh-so cute.

Gather acorns and use a permanent marker to turn them into your own little acorn people.

You could even paint their hats if you like!

These tiny toadstools were cut from bark and then painted.

A really lovely little make for after you come home from an autumn walk.

You could make a little fairy garden with them, too!

Another cute make using acorns.

Simply add googly eyes and cut a beak and wings from card or felt. Feathers look nice as wings, too.

You could make your little owls a nest using raffia or shredded tissue paper.

We love the retro colours of this wise old owl. It takes minutes to make and all you need is a paper plate, felt pens, scissors and glue.

First, draw a simple feather pattern on the centre of the plate.

Then fold the sides of the plate in to make a pair of wings. Fold the top of the plate down to make your wise old owl's head.

Colour the wings in, choosing any pattern you fancy - the bolder the better!

Using some yellow felt, cut out a pair of feet and two circles for eyes. If you have any black felt, you can also cut out a plume and beak for your owl.

Then pop two buttons on to complete the eyes.

This little hedgehog is made from a paper plate and is a great one for practising snipping for little hands.

Fold a white paper plate in half and cut one end to make a nose shape.

If your child's old enough, let them try cutting lots of lines into the top edge of the folded plate to make lots of hedgehog spikes.

Then, paint the outside of the plate brown, stick on googly eyes and use a black marker to draw on a smiley mouth.

This cute little hedgehog takes minutes to make. Why not make a whole hedgehog family and then play with them on some leaves from the garden.

Using modelling clay, make the shape of a small pear.

Then simply poke lots of sticks into the clay to make spikes. Don't forget to make a hole for your hedgehog's eyes.

When the clay is dry, paint the whole thing brown.

Such a simple but beautiful autumn craft. Simply paint dry leaves with PVA glue and then sprinkle liberally with glitter.

These look beautiful hanging from a length of ribbon or a branch.

Another way to make autumn colours pop out. Simply paint on PVA glue to dry pine cones and then dip in glitter.

A wonderful autumn activity for kids, turning conkers into funny faces with pens and wool ... so many ideas

Photo @Red Ted Art

Perfect for preschoolers exploring autumn themes and colours, doubling up as a cute keepsake!

Photo @Arty Crafty Kids

This is a great autumn craft for kids to create.

Firstly, cut a tree trunk shape out of brown card.

Then paint some pumpkin seeds in autumnal colours. Poster paint or acrylics will work well.

Then glue your seeds onto the tree to create leaves.

Make a lovely autumn centrepiece for your table using ... pretty much anything you can find.

Get the whole family outside and active and hunt down a selection of pine cones and red leaves. Then pop your finds into some greenery and present in a nice vase or pot.

Simply paint leaves and print them onto paper. Find a collection of different shapes and sizes and make a really pretty piece of art.

This isn't as difficult as it looks. You just need a balloon and some PVA glue.

Blow up a balloon and glue on dry leaves around the bottom of the balloon. Add several layers and be generous with the glue.

When dry, pop the balloon and you'll be left with a lovely leaf bowl.

A lovely art activity for autumn, perfect for busy toddlers and preschoolers as a first experience with collage. In autumn, there’s an abundance of wonderful leaves in a variety of beautiful shades.

For older children, they can cut their leaves into different shapes and create animal pictures.

Make a pine cone bird feeder. Once you have open pine cones, you can attach a pipe cleaner to the tip.

Spread the cone with peanut butter and roll in bird seed. A little messy, but great fun.