On the hunt for Fall or Halloween leaf crafts for your kids? You need to check these out. Fun and easy to make and might just even get your busy toddler interested.
When I was little, Halloween was unheard of where I live (in Sweden). When my kids were little, Halloween had been here for several years, and Halloween crafts, costumes, and parties were already a big thing for kids (and, to some extent, for adults, too).
Since fall has already arrived and almost turned into winter in some parts of Sweden by the end of October, fall leaf crafts are common and perfect toddler and kids activities here in September and October.
Here, I show you how we made a few Halloween characters using leaves – a spider, ghost, bat, and monster. I found it perfect to first go out and collect the leaves together with my kids and then go home and create the creatures together. I know they do similar crafts in daycare.
I am not a very advanced “craft mom,” and my kids’ enthusiasm for sitting still and working with their hands was quite limited when they were toddlers, so these crafts are super easy. If you have kids who are more patient, just build on these ideas and develop the crafts to be more advanced!
Craft Materials
Below are the suggested materials you need. Of course, you can swap out, for example, acrylic paint with watercolors for kids or colored paper. The marker pen can be changed to crayons.
I use a combination of paper eyes and google eyes in the crafts, but you can use either. You can, of course, use materials other than fussy wire for spider legs, add glitter, finger paint, stickers, or just about anything that makes your children enjoy the crafts.
Material:
- Leaves in different sizes and shapes
- Googly eyes
- Acrylic paint, finger paint, or watercolor
- Paintbrush
- Marker
- Glue
- Scissors
- Tape
- Popsicle stick
- Bondpaper
- Fuzzy wire ( color Black or Brown) (or construction paper)
Step-by-step Instructions
Leaf Bat
Let’s start with leaf bats!
Step 1. Fold the leaf in half and, using a marker, draw the wings in a way that is similar to what I did in the photo. Depending on the size of the leaf, you can draw one or more bats on it. In the picture below, I could draw an outline of two bats on the leaf. Since you need to fold the leaf, using one that isn’t too dry and brittle is important.
Step 2. Cut out the trace drawing in the leaf.
Step 3. Now, paint the bats black or any other color that your kids prefer. Let the paint dry for 10-15 minutes.
Step 4. Add googly eyes.
Step 5. Decide how you want to display the bats. Two possibilities are on popsicle sticks or glued to a paper. To make a bat puppet, you can add a popsicle stick to the back and secure it with tape. It’s perfect for role-playing!
Leaf Monsters
Now, let’s make leaf monsters! Here, let your toddler go all in creating! There is no right or wrong when it comes to sizes, colors, shapes, and so on. Lots of fun!
Step 1. Glue different types of leaves of your choice onto some thicker art paper – white or colored.
Step 2. Draw and cut out different silly eyes for your leaf monsters on thicker (art) paper, and cut out small triangles for the sharp teeth of your leaf monster.
Step 3. Paste and assemble the eyes and teeth. Instead of paper eyes, googly eyes or a combination of both can be used.
Step 4. Use a marker to draw the other parts of the leaf monsters, like legs and tentacles.
And ready!
Now on to the next character – a ghost.
Leaf Ghost
Step 1. Paint the leaf white. If you have more than one leaf to use, try painting either of the leaf sides – the back will create a more textured ghost. After painting the leaf, let it air dry for 10 minutes.
Step 2. Draw the eyes and mouth of the ghost on the leaf. These black dot eyes should be easy to draw for toddlers with a pen. Another option is again to let them glue googly eyes on the leaf.
And done! This is a very easy toddler craft and can, of course, be expanded a lot. Paint the leaves with glitter, paint them in different colors, cut the leaves into different shapes, glue two leaves together for thicker ghosts, and so on.
When done, your child can either glue the ghost on some paper (maybe together with the other characters in this craft) or attach them to popsicle sticks to create puppies, like in the below picture.
Leaf Spider
Finally, let’s make a leaf spider! If you pick leaves that have fall colors, they may not even need to be painted – they already have “spider colors.” This makes the craft a good fast track for impatient toddlers. On the other hand, if they enjoy painting leaves, let them have the fun of creating spiders in whatever colors!
Step 1. Glue the leaf of your toddler’s choice as the spider leaf body on some paper.
Step 2: Put two bigger googly eyes on the spider’s body and then a number of smaller ones. If you don’t have googly eyes in different sizes or no googly eyes at all, create the art paper spider eyes Simply draw small black circles with a marker, cut them out, and glue them onto your craft.
Step 3. Now to the spider’s legs. In this example, I used fuzzy wire for the legs. You can use construction paper or even small wooden sticks that you collect with your toddler at the same time as you gather the leaves.
If you use fuzzy wire, cut each wire in two and bend the parts like in the photo.
Four wires are needed as the spider has eight legs.
Gluing the legs on the spider is a little bit tricky, I’ll have to admit. You need to glue the legs to the paper as well or they will fall off. Using construction paper is easier, but I think the legs become more spider-like when using fuzzy wire. For gluing, use multipurpose glue or possibly hot glue (the latter requires adult assistance).
And here’s the completed leaf spider!
And all done!
That was it! I hope you (and your child!) found these easy kids’ craft activities fun to do.
In my view, Halloween leaf crafts for kids are a fun and seasonal way for children to express their creativity, connect with nature, and develop their fine motor skills. I love the fact that you can combine it with a treasure hunt (for leaves and other items to be used in the craft, and that it is very eco- and budget-friendly. In addition, since these fall crafts are so quick and easy and include creating quite “scary” characters, even more active toddlers may be tempted to join in!
More Toddler Crafts and Activities
Paula Dennholt founded Easy Baby Life in 2006 and has been a passionate parenting and pregnancy writer since then. Her parenting approach and writing are based on studies in cognitive-behavioral models and therapy for children and her experience as a mother and stepmother. Life as a parent has convinced her of how crucial it is to put relationships before rules. She strongly believes in positive parenting and a science-based approach.
Paula cooperates with a team of pediatricians who assist in reviewing and writing articles.