Cute Fall Crafts for Kids Using Simple Supplies

This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you make a purchase through them at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This is a small way to help support the blog and allows me to continue creating content. For more information, see my disclosures here.

Fall is one of the easiest seasons to turn an ordinary afternoon into something creative. Pumpkins are everywhere, leaves are changing color, pinecones are scattered across the yard, and even a basic pack of craft sticks suddenly feels like the beginning of something cute.

If you are looking for cute fall crafts for kids using simple supplies, these ideas are made for easy afternoons at home. You will find pumpkin crafts, nature-inspired projects, sensory play, personalized keepsakes, and fall decorations your kids can actually help make.

Most of these projects use inexpensive supplies you may already have tucked into a craft drawer. They work well for preschoolers and elementary-age kids, although you can easily simplify or add details depending on your child’s age.

The best part is that these fall crafts for kids do not need to look perfect. Crooked pumpkin smiles, extra-long scarecrow hair, and pumpkins painted in completely unexpected colors are usually what make kids’ crafts worth keeping.

Make Silly Paper Plate Pumpkin Faces

A plain paper plate can quickly become one of the cutest pumpkin crafts on the table. This is an especially good choice when you need an easy project that does not require much preparation.

1. Paint the front of a paper plate orange. Let it dry completely.
2. Cut eyes, noses, mouths, stems, and leaves from construction paper.
3. Let your child experiment with different pieces to create a pumpkin expression.
4. Glue the pieces onto the plate.

A triangle nose with a giant smile might become a happy pumpkin. Half-circle eyes and a tiny mouth can create a sleepy pumpkin. Add crooked teeth for something silly or eyelashes and rosy cheeks for a sweet little pumpkin.

For an adorable wall display, make several pumpkin faces with different personalities and arrange them together like a cheerful pumpkin patch.

Build a Popsicle Stick Scarecrow

There is something especially cute about scarecrow crafts during fall, and this version uses one of the easiest craft supplies to keep around.

1. Line several popsicle sticks beside one another to create the scarecrow’s face.
2. Glue one or two craft sticks across the back to hold everything together.
3. Paint the lower portion warm tan, or leave the natural wood showing. Paint the top section in a favorite fall color to create the hat.
4. Cut short pieces of yellow or tan yarn and glue them underneath the hat for straw hair.
5. Add a small orange triangle for the nose, then draw eyes and a stitched smile with a black marker.
6. Decorate the hat with paper patches, little buttons, leaves, or a tiny sunflower.

To recreate a particularly cute finished scarecrow, keep the face simple and let the yarn hair stick out unevenly from both sides. The slightly messy hair gives the scarecrow plenty of personality.

Wrap Cozy Yarn Pumpkins

Yarn-wrapped pumpkins bring a soft, cozy texture to your fall craft table and are a nice change from projects made entirely with paper.

1. Draw a pumpkin shape onto a piece of cardboard. Keep the shape fairly wide with gentle curves.
2. Cut out the pumpkin and tape or glue one end of orange yarn to the back.
3. Have your child wrap the yarn around the cardboard again and again until most of it is covered.
4. Secure the yarn on the back.
5. Wrap green yarn around the cardboard stem, or cut a small green cardstock leaf and glue it beside the stem.

The strands do not need to line up perfectly. Crossing them in different directions actually makes the pumpkin look fuller.

For younger children, cut larger cardboard pumpkins and use chunky yarn. Make several in different sizes and place them together for a sweet little yarn pumpkin patch.

Paint a Tiny Pumpkin Patch From Rocks

Smooth rocks are surprisingly good pumpkin shapes, especially the round and slightly lumpy ones kids usually love collecting.

1. Gather several smooth rocks, wash away any dirt, and let them dry completely.
2. Paint each rock orange and allow the first coat to dry. Some darker rocks may need a second coat.
3. Use green paint to add a small stem at the top.
4. Decorate the rocks with curved pumpkin lines, funny faces, polka dots, hearts, flowers, tiny stars, or different colored stems.
5. Arrange the finished rocks together in a shallow basket or tray.

Add shredded kraft paper, faux moss, or dried leaves around them to create a miniature pumpkin patch.

This is also a cute craft to bring outside. Kids can hide their painted pumpkins around the yard and create a little pumpkin hunt afterward.

Decorate a Paper Pumpkin Garland

Homemade fall decorations feel even sweeter when little hands helped create them.

1. Cut several pumpkin shapes from orange cardstock. If younger children are helping, prepare the shapes ahead of time.
2. Decorate the pumpkins with markers, crayons, paper scraps, stickers, and glue.
3. Cut stems from green or brown cardstock and glue one onto each pumpkin.
4. Punch a small hole near the top of every pumpkin.
5. Thread the pumpkins onto a long piece of twine, leaving a little space between each one.
6. Hang the finished garland across a fireplace mantel, window, playroom shelf, or bedroom wall.

Each pumpkin can look completely different. One might have stripes while another has dots. Kids can add silly faces, tiny flowers, their names, hearts, leaves, or little drawings.

For even more color, alternate the pumpkins with paper leaves and acorns.

Create a Pumpkin Patch Name Craft

Fall crafts can sneak a little learning into the afternoon without making the activity feel like school.

1. Count how many letters are in your child’s name and cut one orange pumpkin for each letter.
2. Write one letter on every pumpkin. Older children can write the letters themselves.
3. Arrange the pumpkins across a large sheet of cardstock in the correct order.
4. Glue the pumpkins down.
5. Add green stems and curly vines between them.
6. Decorate the scene with grass, falling leaves, clouds, a fence, or a little scarecrow.

For children practicing letter recognition, mix up the pumpkins before gluing and let them rebuild their name a few times.

This makes an adorable personalized fall keepsake and looks especially cute displayed on a bedroom door or refrigerator.

Make a Thankful Pumpkin

As the weather gets cooler and Thanksgiving gets closer, a thankful pumpkin is a simple way to encourage kids to notice the people and little things they appreciate.

1. Cut several curved pumpkin sections from orange cardstock.
2. Give your child one section at a time and ask them to write something they are thankful for. Younger children can draw pictures instead.
3. Arrange the sections beside one another until they form a complete pumpkin.
4. Glue the pieces onto cardstock, then add a green stem and leaf.

Their answers can be wonderfully simple. Grandma, pancakes, their dog, bedtime stories, soccer, a best friend, or a favorite stuffed animal all belong on a thankful pumpkin.

You can also leave the pumpkin pieces separate and add one new section each day leading up to Thanksgiving.

The finished craft becomes more than a decoration because it captures what mattered to your child during this particular season.

Set Up a Fall Sensory Bin

A fall sensory bin gives busy little hands plenty to explore and can keep children entertained long after the setup is finished.

1. Choose a shallow storage bin and pour dried corn across the bottom.
2. Add pinecones, mini gourds, large fall leaves, and other seasonal items.
3. Include small cups, bowls, scoops, and measuring spoons.
4. Let kids pour, bury, fill, sort, and create their own little fall scenes.

You can also turn the bin into a simple learning activity. Ask your child to find three pinecones, sort gourds by size, look for different leaf colors, or guess how many scoops it will take to empty one cup.

Always supervise younger children closely because dried corn, beads, acorns, and other small pieces can be choking hazards.

Create Nature-Inspired Fall Wind Chimes

A nature walk can easily become craft time when kids know they are searching for treasures to bring home.

1. Find a sturdy fallen stick to use as the top of the wind chime.
2. Collect several leaves and acorns. If real leaves are too brittle, trace leaf shapes onto cardstock and cut them out.
3. Paint the paper leaves in burnt orange, mustard yellow, deep red, warm brown, or sage green.
4. Cut several pieces of twine at different lengths.
5. Attach one leaf to the end of each piece. Older children can thread large wooden beads onto the twine.
6. Tie each piece of twine along the stick.
7. Attach one longer piece of twine to both ends of the stick to create the hanger.

Hang the finished project near a window, on the porch, or from a tree branch where the pieces can move gently in the breeze.

Save Fall Leaves With Pressed Leaf Bookmarks

Kids seem to find at least one leaf during fall that is simply too pretty to leave on the ground. Pressed leaf bookmarks give those little treasures somewhere to go.

1. Collect several small, colorful leaves that are still in good condition.
2. Place them between sheets of plain paper inside a heavy book. Stack another book on top and leave the leaves until they are completely flat and dry.
3. Cut cardstock into long bookmark shapes.
4. Arrange one or two pressed leaves on each bookmark.
5. Cover both sides with clear contact paper or laminate the bookmark.
6. Trim around the edges, leaving a small clear border.
7. Punch a hole at the top and add ribbon or yarn if you like.

Kids can write their name on the back before laminating or make extra bookmarks to give to teachers, grandparents, or friends.

A Few Ways to Make Fall Craft Time Easier

Crafting with kids is much more enjoyable when you are not searching for scissors while someone has already opened the paint.

• Set out everything you need before calling the kids to the table.
• Cover your work surface with kraft paper, newspaper, or an old tablecloth.
• Choose washable paint when little hands are involved.
• For preschoolers, precut complicated shapes while leaving easy cutting jobs for them to practice.
• Use a cookie sheet or flattened cardboard box to move wet crafts out of the way while they dry.
• Keep a small fall craft basket stocked with orange paper, yarn, popsicle sticks, glue, washable paint, and leftover cardstock.

Turn Craft Time Into a Cozy Fall Afternoon

These cute fall crafts for kids using simple supplies can easily become part of a larger family afternoon.

Take a short walk outside and collect leaves before making the bookmarks or wind chimes. Come home and make warm apple cider or slice apples for a snack.

Put on some music while everyone works at the table.

When the projects are finished, create a little fall art gallery on the refrigerator, across a mantel, or along a playroom wall.

You do not need an elaborate activity planned to make fall feel special for kids. A stack of paper plates, some orange paint, a few rocks from outside, and an hour around the kitchen table can be enough.

Choose one of these easy fall crafts for kids, gather what you already have around the house, and let the kids make it their own. The pumpkins do not have to match, the scarecrow’s smile can be crooked, and the yarn can wander in every direction.

Those little details are usually the ones worth remembering.

Save these fall craft ideas to Pinterest so you have plenty of simple activities ready for cozy afternoons throughout the season.

Posts You May Be Interested In:

• Amazon
• Pinterest