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[Childcare] For 5-year-olds! Autumn craft ideas
Autumn is full of fun events for children, like Halloween, sports days, and field trips.
In this article, we’ll introduce craft ideas that are perfect for the autumn season.
Since autumn is a comfortable time of year, there are also plenty of chances to go for walks and collect acorns and fallen leaves.
We’ve included ideas that use natural materials like these as well.
You’ll also find ideas for crafts and wall decorations that can be used for events, so be sure to try making a variety of them.
Because the children’s creations are regarded as works (artworks), we refer to them as “sei-saku” (制作) in the text.
[Childcare] For 5-year-olds! Autumn craft ideas (1–10)
Halloween ghost lantern
Here’s a fall craft idea you can do with kids, perfect for getting ready for Halloween.
You can even make it using scrap paper lying around in your nursery or kindergarten, so give it a try! Tear the paper scraps into pieces, use glue to stick them tightly all over an inflated balloon with no gaps, then pop the balloon and remove it.
Trim and neaten the top, and your lantern is complete! For the finishing touch, have the teacher’s pre-cut jack-o’-lantern face pieces ready and attach them with double-sided tape, then add a pipe cleaner as a handle.
It can work both as a decorative object and as a container for treats at a Halloween party.
Autumn Leaves Made with Bleeding/Smudging Art
Let’s make autumn leaves that creatively use paint bleeding! It’s a craft that 5-year-olds can enjoy with excitement as they see what colors appear when the paints mix.
The method is simple: use a dropper to drip your favorite paints onto a coffee filter, let it dry, and then cut it into the shape of a leaf! The teacher can show an example of a leaf shape at the start, and a template might also be convenient.
You can also observe real fallen leaves collected from a park while cutting with scissors.
Once you’ve made lots of leaves, draw a tree on construction paper and have everyone stick the leaves on and play together!
Acorn-cap painting activity
Here’s a fall craft idea that makes the most of the acorn’s adorable shape! First, paint patterns on origami paper using paints, or try marble rolling to add color.
Next, fold the colored origami into an acorn cap shape.
To finish, make your own face and put the acorn cap on top! You can cut the face out of construction paper, or cut out faces the children have drawn on construction paper.
It’s exciting to imagine what kind of original, creativity-filled art 5-year-olds will come up with.
Making an owl-themed wall display
Here’s an owl-themed wall art idea to nurture the creativity of five-year-olds.
Cut colored construction paper into owl shapes, add wings, and use crayons to give them expressions! If five-year-olds are making them, it can be fun to include a mechanism that lets the owl’s expression change.
If you want to deepen their understanding of owls, use more realistic colors; if the goal is for the children to enjoy the activity, let them choose their favorite colors.
When displaying them on the wall, adding decorations like tree branches can make the result look more realistic.
Colorful Fallen Leaves: Fun with Wax-Resist Painting
When you run a brush loaded with watercolors over white drawing paper…
mysteriously, all kinds of leaves and nuts appear! This is a resist-painting project: draw an outline on the paper with a white crayon first, then let the children paint over it with their favorite colors—the paint beads up on the crayon lines.
Try dabbing on autumnal reds, yellows, and browns to create a colorful fall-themed piece! It’s perfect for autumn, as kids can enjoy and discover how neighboring colors blend and change where they meet.
Making a three-dimensional origami grape cluster
How about an autumn craft inspired by grapes that kids love? Here’s how to make 3D grapes using toilet paper rolls and origami paper! Cut toilet paper rolls and glue the pieces together in the shape of a bunch of grapes, then attach them to a circle cut from construction paper.
Next, crumple origami paper into small balls and tuck them inside the roll segments.
For the grape stem, you can draw it directly or cut it from colored or construction paper—either works.
It’s a simple method that’s easy even for five-year-olds, so enjoy making it together with the children! Since it has a three-dimensional finish, it’s also great as a wall decoration.
Acorn Cake
Crafting with acorns sounds wonderful.
Picking up acorns in the park feels like a treasure hunt for kids and makes them excited.
The idea of making a cake base from a milk carton and topping it with the acorns they found is really fun.
I can’t wait to see what lovely cakes the children create with their free imagination.
The key is to prep the acorns beforehand; that way, you can enjoy it safely.
If they make it together with their parents or guardians, it’s sure to become a great memory.
Try lots of different autumn crafts!
A fingerprint stamp painting of autumn delicacy apples
How about some autumn-themed art using children’s handprints? Let’s make apples by stamping with handprints to celebrate the flavors of fall! First, use a sheet of construction paper as the base, imagining it as a basket.
Paint red on the palm and green on the middle finger, then press to stamp.
Not only red apples—stamping in yellow-green or yellow, and adding leaves or seeds, will look adorable too! You can also add a little green caterpillar with fingertip stamps—there are so many fun possibilities depending on your ideas.
Children will enjoy making this, so give it a try in your childcare setting!
Let’s make a persimmon with accordion folds
Persimmons are familiar as an autumn delicacy and as fruit that brightens up the garden, right? How about decorating your room with a persimmon motif? Here’s a crafting idea using origami that’s easy even for five-year-olds.
Take two sheets of origami folded in an accordion (fan) style, glue them together, and shape them into a circle.
Make three of these, put double-sided tape in the center, and stack them to secure them together.
Finally, add a calyx and a string to turn it into a hanging ornament! Why not make lots with the kids and enjoy the seasonal atmosphere?
A den-den daiko (hand drum) made with acorns
Autumn is a great season for walks, isn’t it? If you go out for a stroll during a nursery or kindergarten recreation activity and collect fallen leaves and acorns, why not try making a den-den daiko (hand drum)? Using seasonal materials, you can create a unique, artistic instrument! First, use cellophane tape to attach the fallen leaves around the edge of a paper plate, then glue a chopstick to the bottom of the plate.
Next, glue another paper plate on top in the same orientation, and staple acorns tied with twine to two spots on the left and right—done! You can also draw freely on the plates, stamp with the leaves, or roll marbles over them to make patterns.