Recommended for 5-year-olds’ September crafts! A collection of ideas to enjoy autumn

10 years as a kindergarten teacher / elementary school teacher / junior and senior high school teacher / childminderkepiko
Graduated from Kunitachi College of Music, Faculty of Music (now: Department of Music Culture and Education, Early Childhood Music Education major). In elementary school, my homeroom teacher was Jun Kusaba, a game researcher. After graduating from university, I worked for 10 years as a kindergarten teacher and for 7 years as an after-school childcare instructor, then took a post as a music teacher at an international school in Singapore. In addition to music education, I also engaged in activities that shared Japanese culture, traditional games, and recreational play, working with many children. Afterwards, through freelance writing, planning, and editing work at Shogakukan, I met many delightful adults and experienced the joy of communicating and conveying ideas. Leveraging the perspective cultivated in educational settings and my experience as an editor, I aim to deliver practical information—focusing on fields related to music and children—that values both input and output. Hobbies include instruments, singing, handcrafts, toys, drawing, traditional play, the outdoors, books, DIY, and crafts. Special skill: spinning-top tricks.
Nursery Teacher Mom Writertsukada moe
After working for five years at an after-school childcare club and three years at a nursery school, I began working as a freelance writer. I’m a mother of two children. Inspired by playing the flute in the school wind ensemble in elementary school, I joined a jazz club at university. I’ve also incorporated ukulele and piano performance into childcare. Playing, laughing, feeling sad, feeling frustrated—through all kinds of experiences, I want children to grow.

September marks the season when autumn crafts begin.

We’ve gathered plenty of craft ideas you can enjoy with five-year-olds, from Respect for the Aged Day and moon-viewing themes to projects using natural autumn materials.

Crowns made with fallen leaves, mushroom prints using vegetable stamps, and clappers made from milk cartons—each craft is full of seasonal charm.

Why not enjoy craft time unique to autumn while drawing out your child’s imagination? We’ll also introduce the appeal of each project and key points for working on them together with children.

Because the children’s creations are treated as works of art, the term “制作 (seisaku)” is used in the text.

Recommended for 5-year-olds’ September crafts! A collection of ideas to enjoy autumn (41–50)

A whirling-spiral vineyard

This is a fall craft making grapes using spiral swirls! Cut construction paper into long, thin strips and roll them up to make the grape berries.

Depending on the children, you can prepare pre-cut strips or have them cut along drawn lines—adjusting the starting point of the task works well.

Next, apply glue to a triangular (inverted) grape base and stick on the rolled spirals.

Add leaf parts made by flattening some of the rolled spirals, and you’ll have a three-dimensional bunch of grapes! Decorate by sticking them on the wall or hanging them from parts that look like grapevine branches.

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yuri

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Recommended for 5-year-olds’ September crafts! A collection of ideas to enjoy autumn (51–60)

Torn-paper collage mushroom

How about adding patterns to a mushroom cap using torn-paper collage? First, cut out the mushroom cap and stem from construction paper.

If the children are old enough to use scissors, let them do it themselves; if not, the teacher should prepare the pieces in advance.

Next, tear colored origami paper into small pieces.

Then randomly glue the pieces onto the mushroom cap to decorate it.

Once you’ve covered it enough, attach the cap and stem to complete the mushroom.

If you like, draw a cute face on the stem with crayons or pens.

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SAKI

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Torn-paper collage sweet potato

These torn-paper roasted sweet potatoes are perfect for an end-of-autumn craft.

Use red, purple, and brown construction paper or origami paper, tear it by hand, and glue the pieces onto a sweet-potato-shaped base.

If you crumple and soften the paper before tearing, it becomes easier for children to rip—give it a try! For added dimension, you can also shape a sweet potato out of newspaper and then cover it with colored paper.

This craft idea brings out children’s expressive creativity and is sure to make autumn events even more enjoyable.

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miyabi

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Bleeding-effect mushroom

There are many delicious foods that are in season in autumn, and mushrooms are one of the most famous autumn flavors.

You often see autumn-colored mushrooms in wall decorations and the like.

Here’s an idea to make those mushrooms using a bleeding-painting technique.

For the mushroom caps that will have the bleeding effect, use coffee filters.

Draw on the filters with water-based pens in colors you like, then sprinkle water over them to let the colors bleed.

It’s easy to get even coverage by spraying water from a spray bottle.

Make the mushroom stems with colored construction paper, and once the filters are dry, glue them on.

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utatane

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The smeared moon and the footprint-shaped rabbit

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.

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sasashina

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Rolling Acorn

How about enjoying a craft activity with children that makes the most of acorns, one of autumn’s natural treasures? In fall, kids have more chances to pick up acorns outdoors.

Paint the acorns in any colors you like and roll them around on construction paper—they’ll transform into wonderful art! Then cut the paper into leaf shapes and stick origami acorns on top to complete a piece that’s full of autumn vibes.

It’s also a great idea to decorate with the colorful fallen leaves you actually collected.

It’ll make a wall display brimming with both the children’s individuality and the essence of autumn.

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Grapes in bubble art

This is a grape craft made with bubble art.

Bubble art is a technique that uses bubbles created from a soap solution.

Mix detergent, water, and paint to make a colored soap solution, then blow through a straw to create bubbles.

Place the bubbles onto drawing paper to make patterns.

Once the bubbles dry, cut them out into grape shapes, and attach them to a grape backing sheet to finish.

Instead of a straw, you can also use a cut plastic bottle covered with cloth or netting as a substitute.

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sasashina

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