Even though it may still feel hot outside, we are excited for fall at our Raleigh preschool! If you are ready for some seasonal arts-and-crafts activities, we’re sharing some of our favorite ideas that both you and your little ones will love!
Hand Print Autumn Tree
The hand print autumn tree from Arty Crafty Kids is a fun, low-mess activity that toddlers and preschoolers love. Perfect for a rainy day, we love that it encourages learning colors, creativity, and fine motor skills! We also love that you can customize materials and how much you and your child do depending on their skill level.
You’ll need:
- White card stock, poster board (cut into smaller squares), white construction-style paper, or white typing paper (just put piece of cardboard underneath to prevent paint from bleeding through!)
- Pencil
- Paint – primary colors
- Plate or surface to act as palette for mixing paints
- Q-tips
Note: For smaller children, you can also use crayons if you’re not worried about mixing paint!
Instructions:
- Trace your child’s forearm and outstretched hand (or older preschoolers can do this themselves)
- Pour out your primary color paints, also having your child mix colors to create orange, purple, and green. Create brown by mixing red, blue, and yellow or red and green!
- Use the brown paint to paint the “tree”
- Using the q-tips, your child can dot different colors around the top of the tree to create leaves.
No-Cook Natural Apple Play Dough
We know fall is primarily all things pumpkin, but we think apple is just as important which is why we love this apple-scented play dough from Natural Beach Living. Scent this natural, no-cook play dough with apple pie spice and color it red or green, and shape, mold, and craft with it for fun sensory play.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups all purpose Flour
- 1 cup Salt
- 2 Tbsp. Cream of Tartar
- 3 Tbsp. cooking oil (we use Coconut oil)
- 3 Tbsp. Apple Pie Spice
- Optional food colors
Instructions:
- You and the kids can measure everything together in a large bowl and stir to combine them.
- Slowly add 1.5 cups of very hot (around 180 degrees) water and stir to form a ball.
- Let the dough sit and cool for a few minutes before playing with it.
Color one half with green, one half with red and make little apples that are fun for sorting and counting, break out some plastic cookie cutters and shapes, or just let them have fun creating!
Puffy Paint Pumpkins
Part art project, part sensory fun, these puffy paint pumpkins from Emma Owl are great for a rainy day! You may want to break out an old sheet or shower curtain as well a wear some old clothes as this could get messy. However, it’s such a neat texture and your child can make a really creative pumpkin or other any other project that it’s a craft that is definitely worth doing!
You’ll need:
- White shaving foam
- Clear school glue
- Orange food coloring (1 drop red for every 3 drops of yellow to get a good orange shade)
- Decorations (pumpkin seeds, glitter, rice, etc)
Instructions:
- Add equal parts shaving foam and glue (depending on how much you want to make) and mix well.
- Continue adding shaving foam until you see stiff peaks (usually 2:1 ration of foam to glue)
- Add food coloring, just a tiny amount does the job!
You can draw outlines for the pumpkins first or just let your child free hand their own pumpkins. They can swirl with a paint brush, finger paint, use sponges, or try other techniques, and once the pumpkin is finished, they can sprinkle seeds, glitter, or other decorations on it. Because of the glue, the decorations will easily stick to the painting.
Wishing You a Fun, Festive Fall!
At our Raleigh preschool, we love letting the kids experience fall through all types of activities, including arts and crafts, stories, outside exploration, and special events! With a five-star preschool program, you can feel confident that children in our care get a great opportunity to learn through play, discovery, and fun. To learn more about our preschool and take a tour, call our North Hills Drive location at 919-785-0303 or our Spring Forest location at 919-790-6888, or fill out our convenient contact form to get started!
