Chilly, cooler weather is a great reason to bundle up and head outdoors. Leaves are falling, birds are preparing for winter, and wonderful changes are happening. Nature’s beautiful autumn change is a perfect springboard to inspire fall arts and crafts for the Thanksgiving holiday. Collecting natural materials on walks or trail hikes can lead to some beautiful projects.
Here are some quick tips for gathering art supplies and materials for Thanksgiving arts and crafts. If you want to learn more about teaching kids visual arts, check out my books filled with lots of wisdom and my easy teaching method.
Get Ready For Arts and Crafts
Some light preparations will get kids excited to sit down and get creative. Traditionally, each season I rotate supplies in my art studios and home to stimulate creativity. For fall, autumn, and Thanksgiving, I pull out items like knitting yarn, natural wool, felt, and sewing kits.
I also include earthy natural objects such as fallen leaves, twigs, rocks, and dried fruit in these baskets. Books celebrating Thanksgiving, autumn, and fall how-to-books come out for inspiration. I place baskets with all these items near my family’s favorite nesting areas around our house.
Objects You can Collect
Planning ahead for simple to complex projects for your home and holiday travels will help kids succeed in creating cool projects.
Natural Autumn Elements
- Fallen leaves
- Twigs
- Rocks
- Dried fruit
- Small scraps of wood
Arts and Craft Materials
- Glue
- Scissors
- Natural twine
- Yarn
- Sewing supplies
- Felt
- Fabric scraps
- Pencils
- Pencil sharpener
Artsy Supplies
- Small acrylic paint set
- Drawing paper
- Watercolor paper
- Crayons
- Color pencils
- Watercolor pencils
- Small watercolor kit
- Origami paper
- Paint brushes
- Markers
Easy Thanksgiving Decorations Task
Involve kids in creating decorations for the holidays; they adore this activity! Decorations can be simple collections of natural items from outdoors. Display the collected items in a lovely bowl, arrange them on a mantle, or at the home entrance. Kids enjoy exploring while on a mission to gather beautiful leaves, twigs, dried fruit, rocks, or seashells.
36 Thanksgiving Art & Craft Ideas
- Paint jack-be-little or large pumpkins with non-toxic paints.
- Collect pine cones – paint them or create pine cone art sculptures.
- Create leaf foliage art by gathering a collection of leaves, arranging them in a picture, and gluing them.
- Make a fall leaf bouquet for a table centerpiece.
- Craft a pine cone bird feeder using peanut butter, bird seeds, and natural twine.
- Recycle materials to make bird feeders.
- Design thankful place cards using crayons, paper, or brown bags.
- Try tree rubbings by placing paper on rough bark areas and rubbing with crayons or wide color pencils.
- Make crayon leaf rubbings using Fall-colored recycled crayons.
- Create leaf prints by arranging leaves in different sizes, gluing, or framing them in glass.
- Craft Fall wreaths using acorns, leaves, twigs, etc.
- Make a pressed leaf collection by arranging leaves in different sizes, gluing, or framing them in glass.
- Craft a Pine Cone Turkey.
- Design Leaf Catchers.
- Experiment with Fruit & Veggie Prints.
- Try fruit carving sculptures like pumpkins and gourds.
- Create Woodland Creature Sculptures.
- Make a framed sign with natural materials, family name, or crest using twigs or acorns.
- Paint acorns or display them in a beautiful bowl.
- Create Technicolor acorns using tissue paper.
- Try leaf weaving with recycled paper or paper bags.
- Explore Rock painting.
- Experiment with Twig Painting.
- Create a Nature Mobile using twigs, leaves, acorns, pine cones, etc.
- Make Gods eyes.
- Get creative with Yarn & Wool creations.
- Try Felting with wool.
- Sew small felt creations.
- Experiment with Needle Point.
- Try Finger Knitting.
- Explore Knitting.
- Engage in Sewing activities.
- Start a Nature Journal.
- Experiment with Watercolor paint.
- Paint on found natural elements like bark, rocks, and sticks.
- Create a jar to collect any natural element.
Enjoy the season!
Spramani Elaun
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