Ideas for September Crafts for 1-Year-Olds: A Fun Collection of Autumn-Themed Projects
Here are some autumn craft ideas you can enjoy with one-year-olds.
From mushrooms and grapes to apples and fallen leaves, there are plenty of colorful, adorable creations.
For September projects, activities like finger stamping, painting, and handprints/footprints let children explore by touch and joyfully express the changing seasons.
Through hands-on creative activities, their sensibilities are richly nurtured.
All of the projects are simple in both preparation and steps, so enjoy a fun crafting time with the children! Because we introduce ideas that let children freely express their creativity, we use the term “制作” (creation/production) rather than “製作” (craft-making) in the main text.
[For 1-year-olds] September craft ideas! A fun collection of autumn-themed projects (1–10)
The smeared moon and the footprint-shaped rabbit
https://www.instagram.com/p/CiPIyW-OYvV/This is a cute craft idea that uses a paper plate as the moon and children’s footprints as rabbits.
First, take the children’s footprints on black construction paper and draw the rabbits’ ears and faces.
After wiping their feet clean, have them make the moon using yellow paint.
Encourage them to spread the paint over the surface with their hands or fingers.
If you put the plate and paint in a sealable bag, you can keep things mess-free.
Once the moon is finished, glue it onto the background and add pampas grass and rice dumplings to complete the scene.
It’s also a great idea for an autumn wall decoration.
Rolling it up is fun! Grape craft
Crafts may seem difficult, but this is a simple project that even very young children can do.
How about making some delicious-looking grapes that are perfect for autumn? The basic method is just to roll paper into balls.
Use thin, easy-to-handle tissue paper and roll it into small balls.
Put the rolled pieces into a clear bag, tie the opening, add a leaf and a vine, and it’s done.
It’s also fun to make a lot and decorate your room.
Be sure to try it with your child—and with the whole family together.
Autumn fruits with balloon stamps
https://www.instagram.com/p/CvPKXKoPtVS/Let’s use balloons like stamps to make delicious autumn fruits! On white drawing paper, dab paint onto the paper using a paint-covered balloon.
Once the paint dries, cut the paper into the shapes of your favorite fruits to match the paint colors.
Prepare separate paper to make stems and leaves, then combine them with the fruit shapes to finish! Have the children do the balloon stamping, and let the teacher handle any tasks that involve using scissors.
Crumpled-origami Karaage Bento
Autumn is the season for outings, isn’t it? And when it comes to outing season, you can’t forget a packed lunch.
So let’s try making a bento that you can create just by crumpling up origami paper.
For the bento box, use any empty box or can you like.
Then pack it with cabbage, fried chicken, pickled plums, rice, and more—all made by crumpling the paper.
Using your imagination to make your favorite side dishes sounds like a lot of fun.
You could easily make things like hamburger steaks or rolled omelets, too.
Fallen leaves made with a coffee filter
Let’s use coffee filters to make and play with autumn leaves! First, dampen the coffee filter.
Using a spray bottle to mist it all over makes it easy.
With the filter fully moistened, load a brush with paint and apply it on top.
Even if the color isn’t perfectly even, having variations in tone actually makes the leaves look more realistic.
Once the paint is dry, cut out leaf shapes.
Adding creases to the leaves gives them a three-dimensional look and makes them appear more realistic when displayed, so it’s highly recommended.
Moon Art
This is a fun moon-viewing craft using paint.
Beforehand, prepare a black backing sheet with pre-attached parts of a rabbit, pampas grass, and rice dumplings.
Put a white sheet of drawing paper into a bag, drop a few colors of paint onto it, and seal the bag.
Have the children spread the paint by using their hands and fingers on top of the bag.
Because the paper is inside the bag, their hands, clothes, and surroundings won’t get dirty, so even one-year-olds can work safely.
Once the paint has spread, take the paper out of the bag, let it dry, and cut it into a circle like a full moon.
Finally, stick it onto the backing sheet to finish!
Torn-paper picture bagworm
Tear pieces of origami paper and dress the little bagworm! First, cut construction paper to make the base for the bagworm.
The dressing step is a joint activity between the teacher and the children.
As the children tear the origami paper, paste the pieces onto the bagworm’s body, layering them as you go.
Using various colors and patterns is recommended to make it bright and colorful.
Once your unique bagworms are finished, complete the project by mounting them on a backing sheet or decorating the wall together with autumn motifs such as autumn leaves and acorns.
