credit: kidsomania.com

Oh autumn, the season of cozy sweaters, apple picking, and SO MANY LEAVES. If your yard is anything like mine, you’re being completely engulfed by nature’s bounty, and every day brings another mountain of gold, brown, and red to your back door. There’s no fighting it and there’s no stopping it, so why not take a break from the endless raking and bagging to make a cup of hot chocolate with your little ones and celebrate the season with a fun, easy craft?

I’ve found a couple of great ideas online, but consider these a starting point, and let your imagination run wild. All you need is some paper, glue or double-sided tape, and markers or paint. Feel free to add any embellishments that you’d like – there’s really no wrong way to do this. If you want to preserve the leaves for a longer period of time, I recommend coating them with Mod Podge before crafting, but they’ll dry out nicely even without any type of treatment, and will last for a good long time.

I like how the autumn colors take center stage in these pictures, but kids could have a lot of fun painting on the leaves as well, or drawing on them with markers. Small twigs, feathers, or bits of other natural materials are all great additions to this project, and if you’re not “lucky” enough to have a yard full of crafting supplies at your disposal, this is the perfect excuse to enjoy the crisp air and take a treasure-hunting-and-collecting walk!

You can find even more ideas at the Kidsomania website, HERE.