8 Kid’s Crafts Using Fall Leaves

Autumn is the perfect season for simple nature crafts, especially when kids are already coming home with pockets, bags, and little hands full of colorful leaves. From bright yellows and fiery reds to crunchy browns and speckled oranges, fall leaves are one of the easiest and most beautiful craft supplies you can find for free. They invite children to slow down, explore the outdoors, and turn what they discover into something creative.

Crafting with fall leaves is also a lovely way to mix fun with learning. Kids can talk about the seasons, notice how leaves change color, compare shapes and textures, and even learn a little about the science behind why trees transform in autumn. It is hands-on, messy in the best way, and a great excuse to head outside for a leaf hunt before settling in for an afternoon of creating.

These 8 kids crafts using fall leaves are full of easy, seasonal inspiration for home, school, or weekend fun. Whether you are looking for a quick activity for younger children or a creative way to use up that growing pile of leaves on the kitchen counter, these ideas are a fun way to celebrate the season and make the most of nature’s prettiest supplies.

Take a look through our list and see if any of them can fit into your next lesson. If you are looking for more Fall activities check out these Fall themed Coloring Books.

1- Leaf Finger Puppets from Make and Takes

2- Leaf Glitter from Parents.com

3- Autumn Tree Craft from Crafts On Sea

4- Apple Suncatchers from Fireflies and Mud Pies

5- Fall Leaf Turkey from Baby Center

6- Autumn Leaf Prints from Our Day Our Journey

7- Fall Leaf Animals from kokokokids

8- Autumn Luminaries from Martha Stewart

Looking for more thanksgiving crafts ? Check these out on our sister site Craftbits.com

Thanksgiving Pumpkin Turkey — CraftBits.com

Thanksgiving Turkey Legs Decoration — CraftBits.com

Fall Pumpkin Candle Holder — CraftBits.com

Thanksgiving Craft: Indian Candy Corns — CraftBits.com

Paper Turkey Centerpiece — CraftBits.com

Paper Fall Leaves — CraftBits.com

Thanksgiving Handprint Turkey — CraftBits.com

Thanksgiving Pinecone Turkey — CraftBits.com

Growing Up Ladybug and How to Become a Butterfly are both by Stepanka Sekaninova and illustrated by Linh Dao, and they came out at the same time and are on similar themes, so let’s look at them together.

Growing Up Ladybug is narrated by Mariella, a seven-spot ladybug. She talks about the parts of a ladybug, where they live, different kinds of ladybugs, why humans love them, their defenses against predators and the life cycle of a ladybug.

The drawings are cute if not always scientifically accurate, it’s not in such a way that’s likely to confuse kids (who probably already know that ladybug mamas don’t push their larval babies around in strollers, for instance.

It’s a good general description of the life cycle of a lady bug and why we like having them around.

About the book: 32 pages, hardcover. Published 2026 by Albatross Media. Suggested retail price $16.95.

Similarly, How to Become a Butterfly covers the life cycle of a butterfly, starting with caterpillars eating burning nettle leaves. (Here Amanda is the narrator.) The book talks about a few of the more than 18,000 daytime butterflies in the world as well as other creatures that live in the meadow (there’s that ladybug again, along with crickets, bees and other bugs).

It also covers some of the enemies of caterpillars like wasps and spiders, and the defenses that caterpillars use to try to prevent being eaten. It illustrates how caterpillars grow and change as they molt and prepare to pupate, and what a caterpillar looks like before and while it is forming its chrysalis. And while the book uses the word metamorphasis it doesn’t really talk about what happens between the caterpillar forming a chrysalis and the butterfly hatching.

This butterfly is a peacock butterfly, and once it hatches the book covers the parts of a butterfly and the life cycle. It also talks about nocturnal moths (though it says nocturnal butterflies are “usually called moths” when moths are actually a different species) and what butterflies do at night.

I’m maybe a little hard on this book because my daughter is a butterfly expert from way back, but it is still cute and good for the very basic basics of the butterfly life cycle.

Both books would be fun additions to your bookshelf for younger kids starting to learn about different animals or who have an interest in insects.

About the book: 32 pages, hardcover. Published 2026 by Albatross Media. Suggested retail price $16.95.

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