Celebrate Autumn: A Creative Journey with Nature

Today, we're diving into a truly beautiful way to connect with the truest artist of them all: Mother Nature! Here, we celebrate the incredible spectacle that is the changing of the Autumn leaves.

Autumnophiles Unite!

Let’s gather together for another simple and accessible creative activity! This is a wonderful opportunity to make lasting memories with those around you.

Who Is This For?

This activity is perfect for almost every age! It’s suitable for both supervised and unsupervised play for children aged around 5 or 6 and up. No sharp tools or toxic substances are needed here. However, if you know your child might put glue in their mouth, please stay close by!

Sensory Stuff

This activity is fantastic for both sensory seekers and avoiders—yes, really!

Imagine the wonderful sensory experience of gathering leaves in the fresh air. Feel the crunch of leaves underfoot, smell the earthy aroma, and marvel at the vibrant colours. The tactile sensation of picking them up is delightful!

Tips for Tactile Sensitive / Sensory Avoiders:

• If you have sensory avoiders who dislike anything wet, use gloves or litter pickers to collect your leaves.

• For those who dislike the feel of glue, and if you don't have tape, use long-handled applicators or brushes to apply the glue.

  
  

How to Play

• Choose Your Day: Pick a day when you can dedicate some time to gathering leaves. We prefer a dry day, but remember, "There’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes!" If you have the right clothing, most weathers are grand for outdoor activities. However, if anyone in your family is immunocompromised, it’s best to choose a dry, fair day.

  
  

• Gather Your Supplies: Bring along a plastic carrier bag to collect the leaves. I also recommend some waterproof gloves if there’s any sensory sensitivity in the group.

  
  

• Start Collecting!

Note: Please do not pick leaves from trees or bushes; gather only what has fallen to the ground.

• Dry Your Leaves: Once you've gathered your beautiful haul, spread the leaves out on a table to dry for a few hours. If space is limited, you can give them a quick dab with some kitchen roll.

  
  

• Sort Them Out: Sort the leaves into matching colours.

  
  

(You’ll see in the image here that we also gathered some cones and conkers, along with a few feathers. Stay tuned to see why!)

• Prepare Your Display: Now, it’s time to prepare your wall or table to stick on the leaves. Here are some options:

- We usually use fairly low-tack sticky tape (paper tape works wonders) and fold over each end of a long strip to stick it to the wall. Our paint has never been harmed using this method! Just be sure not to use really tough tape or leave it up for more than a couple of hours.

- You could also use masking tape, although some leaves may have a harder time sticking to it.

- Sticky-backed plastic is another option.

- Alternatively, you can lay out a large sheet of paper on a table or the floor and use good old PVA/stick/mod podge glue.

roll the ends over to stick tape to the wall sticky side out

We do 4 strips of tape for green, orange, yellow and red leaves, but you can do as many as you like

• Get Creative: For younger children or those with higher support needs, start off each row of tape with one leaf of each colour. This way, they can match the other leaves in the haul to the one already up.

  
  

Each time we've done this, it creates a beautifully calm, focused energy for my boys (and me!). It even pulls us out of bad moods and stressful states.

The great thing about using paper tape is that once you've taken your photos, you can peel the leaves off and use them for other activities! It doesn’t harm the paint or leave any sticky residue (in our experience). Just remember, we don’t keep ours up for more than a few hours.

Peeling the leaves from the tape and the tape from the wall after 3 hours

You may find that after this activity, you have a bucket of ideas for using the leaves in other ways! Here are some fun suggestions:

• Paint the leaves and print with them.

• Do pastel rubbings of the back of coarse-textured leaves.

• Create an Autumn rainbow.

• Make a leaf crown.

• Craft faces or animals out of leaves.

• Add googly eyes for a fun twist.

• Create dot patterns.

• Draw with white or black pens onto the leaves.

• Use stencils to draw around them.

• Make a leaf chain.

• Craft masks using large leaves.

• Explore them under a microscope!

  
  

Googly-eye leaf characters

Paint and print leaves

Drawing Autumn leaves with pen and pastels

Autumn leaf-inspired crown

Large leaf mask with eye holes cut out

This time we arranged different coloured sheets of paper in an arch and covered with glue to make the rainbow

I created this rooster using a combination of leaves, feathers, sticks, berries and grasses!

PS - This activity is also a brilliant tie-in to the Colour Trail activity I shared before!

Have Fun!

Learning & Development

All sensory and creative play is excellent for development:

• Fine motor skills

• Boosts imagination

• Improves social, play, communication, and observation skills

• Sparks curiosity

• Develops hand-eye coordination

• Improves focus and attention

• Supports emotional regulation

• Encourages turn-taking

• Provides stress relief

• Is simply fun!

• Creates opportunities for CONNECTION

  
  

Let’s embrace the beauty of Autumn together! Enjoy every moment of this creative journey!