Many child care teachers hesitate to step out of the box when it comes to creating arts and crafts activities and prefer to keep it basic so children can engage with minimal assistance.
But kids enjoy exposure to more than just coloring activity sheets, especially during the fall season, where you can introduce them to many intriguing crafts they can fulfill with little to no help.
Below are five unique activities that will entice the children and engage them during the theme of fall.
Leaf Threading
Materials:
- Leaves (you can find many outside your yard)
- Yarn
- Hole puncher
Threading activities are essential for children as they aid in strengthening their fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination. This particular activity will provide just that and plenty of opportunity for some fun and enjoyment. The coolest aspect of this activity is that it's probably the easiest on the list.
Start by hole punching all the ends of the leaves. Next, tie a knot on the end of each yarn to provide the children with a threading endpoint.
Make sure you have this process ready ahead of time so that children can work solely on threading.
Don't forget to photograph the children and send pictures to their parents through Child Journal to connect them with their child's daily daycare activities.
Wormy Apple Treat
Materials :
- Red apple
- Gummy worms
- Peanut butter
- Disposable knives
Ensure that you thoroughly wash each apple, and then poke a large hole in the middle of each one. Cut them in half horizontally and give each child their halves.
Allow the children to spread the peanut butter on the top and bottom of the apple halves and have them insert a gummy worm in the center to create their wormy apple treat.
Having them perform this part of the activity will invite a moment of fun, encourage independence, and help them exercise their fine motor skills.
Leaf Mask
Materials:
- Paper plates
- Black marker
- Leaves (you can find many outside your yard)
- Hole puncher
Start by drawing the shape of a mask over the paper plates and cut along the eye area. Hole punch the two corners and insert yarn around both of the holes. It would be great to have this process ready before the kids begin the activity to shorten the time spent on this craft.
Lastly, have the kids perform the easiest part–– allow them to add glue dots on the front of the mask and paste the leaves to conclude their leaf mask.
Pumpkin mummy
Materials:
- Small pumpkin
- Googly eyes
- Blu Tack
- Rolled gauze
- Glue
- Black marker
There should always be a pumpkin craft in your list of fall activities, and this no-carve pumpkin is the perfect one for kids.
Hand each of the kiddies a small pumpkin and allow them to add the blu tack and squiggly eyes to begin creating the face.
Next, dot some glue around the pumpkin and encourage the children to paste the rolled gauze to create a mummy. Then, have them add a mouth.
Allow the children to enjoy the activity and assist only where needed.
Stained glass apple
Materials:
- Red construction paper
- Contact paper
- Scissors
- Red, yellow and green tissue paper
Start by creating an apple frame for each child and make sure to have these ready ahead of time so that children can only work on overlapping the tissue paper to create a stained-glass apple.
Have each of the kids overlap 2” tissue paper squares to form an emulation of stained glass.
Once they have compiled their squares, assist in adding a final piece of tissue to seal the 2” squares and then add the contact paper as an adhesive to hold all pieces together.
Finally, allow the kids to cut the excess contact paper to finalize their stained-glass apple.
