Fun Fall Crafts For Little Learners: Let’s Make Colorful Leaf Collages in 6 Easy Steps

Ahh, fall is in the air! Celebrate the changing of the seasons with your students or your little ones at home by creating colorful leaf collages using fallen leaves, grass clippings, and handprints.

Little ones will practice fine motor skills and following directions while they’re encouraged to express themselves artistically. The end result is such a sweet keepsake to send home– and a win for the positive home connection you’re aiming for with caregivers!

Before You Start

Before you begin creating this fun fall craft, read a book (or few!) about fall leaves to prepare your students’ minds.

One classic fall story to consider isWe’re Going on a Leaf Hunt by Steven Metzger. In this fun action-packed story, three friends go on a leaf-finding adventure hiking over a mountain and through the forest to collect leaves of all kinds and colors. Your students will love to get up and moving to this rhyming, sing-song text, as they pretend to go on their own leaf hunt.

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Check out other fall favorite read alouds here!

Once you’ve prepped your students with all things fun and leaves, get to crafting!

What You Need To Create Colorful Leaf Collages:

• fallen leaves (cut or torn into pieces)
• blades of grass (cut or torn into pieces)
• washable brown tempera paint
• a foam flat paint brush
• white construction paper or cardstock (9”x 12”)
• paper plates
• scissors
• glue (liquid glue or glue sticks will work great for this project; use whichever you prefer!)
• wet wipes for clean-up

How To Create Colorful Leaf Collages:

This project is just 6 easy steps! It’s best done spread out over 2 days. 

Day 1

Step 1: Prep

• Position a 9” x 12” piece of construction paper or cardstock vertically.
• Have each child write their name in the top corner of the page.

Step 2: Paint

• Cover the bottom of a paper plate with washable brown tempera paint.
• Paint each child’s palm and wrist with the tempera paint.
• Assist the child in pressing their hand and wrist onto the middle of the paper (towards the bottom) to make a print.

Step 3: Clean Up

• Set these somewhere to dry overnight. 
• Provide children with wet wipes to clean off their hands and arms.

Day 2

Step 1: Prep

• Pass the tree handprints back to the children. 
• Give each group of children a plate full of leaves to share. 
• Have them break the leaves into small pieces. (About dime sized)

Step 2: Add Leaves

• Show your children how to put a line of glue next to each “tree branch” and then sprinkle torn-up pieces of leaves onto the glue.
• Model adding more glue as necessary to fill in the gaps.

Step 3: Add Grass

• Remove the plates of leaves and give each group of children a plate full of cut-up grass clippings to share. 
• Have them use their scissors to cut the grass clippings into smaller pieces.
• Model for the children how they will put a line of glue across the bottom of the paper and then sprinkle pieces of grass onto the glue.
• Add more glue and grass as needed.
• Set the finished tree collages somewhere to dry overnight. **Do not hang collages up until they are completely dry.

Voila! Your students have created the CUTEST fall tree collage for you to send home to families. 

Differentiate this Fall Craft

Some students may need more or less support when creating these colorful leaf collages. Use your teacher superpowers, and differentiate this fall craft as needed. 

To make this project more involved or independent, students can:

• Add more leaves to show the leaves falling to the ground
• Add thumbprint apples to the tree using washable red, green, or yellow paint
• Color the background of the picture
• Add themselves to the picture doing their favorite fall activity
• Write on the paper about why they love fall or their favorite thing about fall.

To offer more support with this project, you can:

• Pre-rip the leaves into small pieces
• Pre-cut the grass clippings into small enough pieces
• Assist students with glue
• Write students’ names in highlighter so that they can practice tracing

There are so many ways to you can individualize these colorful leaf collages to be fun for all students! Happy Crafting and Happy Fall!

Let me know if you have any questions about anything you see here. Don’t forget to pin this post to refer to it later!

Other posts you may enjoy:

10 Favorite Fall Read Alouds and Engaging Leaf Activities

How to Turn Your Students into Adorable Singing Turkeys for Thanksgiving

Flashlight Fridays… Not Just for Fun and Games!

Diane Romo

Thank you for being here! I love sharing ideas with other teachers! If you are looking to enhance your teaching and build a positive classroom community, you have come to the right place!

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