Thanksgiving Nature Crafts

Looking for fun things to do outside with your kids this Thanksgiving? We love to encourage our Explorers to explore their creativity, and we can practice crafts with natural objects found right outside! This fall, make use of nature’s materials for fun arts and crafts! Here are some our favorite nature-inspired art projects for the autumn season.

Dried Fruit Harvest Garland

To make a dried fruit garland, start out with fruit cut into thin slices. You can use any fruit you want, such as apples, oranges, and more! Make a hole in each slice, and place them to dry in a cool area (they will usually dry within a day). Once the fruits are dry, string a piece of yarn through the holes within each slice. Hang it up and enjoy your harvest garland!

Photo courtesy of The Magic Onions .png

Photo courtesy of The Magic Onions

Leaf Rubbing Murals

Tape some block paper to the floor and position leaves with the veins facing up. Cover this with another layer of block paper, and tape that down too. Color over the top paper with crayons and enjoy the leaf texture mural!

Photos courtesy of Filth Wizardry .png

Photos courtesy of Filth Wizardry

Bark Owls

Collect bark, acorns, twigs, and seeds from outside (making sure they are found on the ground rather than from a living plant). You can chip and break the bark into the shape of an owl, and then using craft glue, place acorn caps on the bark to create the owl’s “eyes.” Then, glue a seed under the eyes to make a beak, and glue the owl onto a branch to perch!

owl.png

Photo courtesy of Fireflies and Mud Pies

Pinecone Turkeys

Acquire feathers from a craft store or outside, and cut them in half. Using a small amount of hot glue, place the feathers onto the pinecone to look like the rear end of a turkey.

Photo courtesy of A Pumpkin and a Princess

Next, using felt and googly eyes, glue on a beak and the bird’s eyes.

Photo courtesy of A Pumpkin and a Princess 2.png

Photo courtesy of A Pumpkin and a Princess

For more ideas of crafts involving resources from nature, check out this pagecreated by Rhythms of Play!



Oskar Elmgart