There’s a chill in the air so little ones might not always want to hit the outdoors this half term. Mix it up a bit, using some of the materials you’ve foraged and craft items you probably already have around the house, with these simple seasonal crafts we’ve compiled. As an added bonus, you get to spend quality time together, making memories. So, here’s our top five:

Leaf art

After you’ve been on a crisp walk collecting a variety of leaf sizes and shapes, either fresh or dry work fine, it’s time to get your aprons on and sleeves rolled up for some good old-fashioned leaf paint printing. For best results, use a brush to apply the paint (don’t dip), when applying to the paper smooth over with the back of your hand before carefully removing. You can stamp the leaf up to three times before reapplying paint. Experiment with blending different colours and overlapping leaves, you could even try your hand at a stripey rainbow print!

Photo credit: http://www.firstpalette.com

Not feeling like getting messy today, try some crayon running instead. Place the leaf on a table with the back of it facing up. Cover with a piece of lightweight paper and rub gently over the leaf with a crayon. The shape of the leaf will magically appear on the paper. Sit back and admire your artwork. If you have a ‘keeper’, find a frame so it can be enjoyed for years to come.

Photo credit: http://www.firstpalette.com

Hedgehog bread

This doesn’t need to be complicated; you can use a wholemeal bread ready mix here and do the measuring, weighing and kneading together. Follow the packet instructions to make the dough then shape into oval buns with a point at one end. Add raisins for the eyes and use a butter knife to make the spike indentations. The added bonus is your children get to eat their creations afterwards.

Photo credit: http://www.clareslittletots.co.uk

Conker caterpillars

Kids love collecting conkers, but what to do with them when they bring their collections home? A conker caterpillar of course! As well as the obvious (conkers), you will need a metal skewer to pierce a hole through the conkers (with some help from an adult here), pipe cleaners, glue dots and some googly eyes.

Thread a pipe cleaner through the pierced conkers, bending over the pipe cleaner at either end (these will represent the tail and mouth). Glue dots hold the googly eyes really well and voila! Why not make a whole family of caterpillars of varying sizes too?

Photo credit: http://www.the-gingerbread-house.co.uk

Pine cone bunnies

Again, grab different sizes (of pine cones this time) to make a family of bunnies. Little ones love to role play, so when coupled with their imagination, this could provide hours of fun. For this you will also need some coloured felt or card, beads, twine, little pom poms and glue dots.

Cut the bunny ears (inner and outer) from felt or card, and glue the inner and outer ears together. Slide a short length of twine through the wooden bead, aka the nose, securing with a glue dot and untwist the twine so it looks like whiskers. Apply the ears, eyes, nose and pom pom tail onto the pine cone and watch the bunny come to life.

When out and about looking for pine cones, don’t forget to grab a few extra for those Christmas crafts, it won’t be long until they’re needed…

Photo credit: http://www.firefliesandmudpies.com

Lollipop spiders

No Autumn craft blog would be complete without a Halloween creation added to the list. Apart from the lollipops, you won’t need any other materials than what’s already been used for the other crafts.

Take two black pipe cleaners, and cut them in half. Place the now four pipe cleaners together, and put the lolly sweet near the top of the pipe cleaners, about a third of the way in from one side.

Photo credit: http://www.onelittleproject.com

Wrap the long side of pipe cleaners around the lollipop stick and loop it around 360 degrees. You now have an 8-legged spider. To finish, bend the end of each spider’s leg to create a foot, and space the legs evenly apart. Time to give the spider his eyes by securing with glue dots, then off it scurries.

A creepy treat, and when the lolly is no more, the spiders can still be used for Halloween decorations.

Photo credit: http://www.onelittleproject.com

We hope you’ve been inspired by these craft ideas which we’re sure your children will love and your wallet will love even more. Have fun!