Celebrate the changing colours of the leaves and use your imagination to create this fun autumn craft. You only need a few simple craft supplies to create a leaf man or woman, and it’s a great fall activity for at school or at home.
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Helpful Tips:
What leaves are best for making leaf people?
You can make this craft with pretty much any leaves that are available. Here’s a few tips:
How far in advance can I collect the fall leaves to make a leaf man craft?
We suggest gathering the leaves the same day you make the craft. The leaves are much easier to work with when they’re fresh, and the longer they’re inside, the more they’ll dry and curl up. If you have to collect the leaves the day before, store them in a plastic bag in the fridge. If the leaves are really wet, add a couple pieces of paper towel into the bag to collect the moisture.
Can I make leaf people without real fall leaves?
It’s fun to craft with real leaves, fresh from nature, but if it’s not the right time of year — or you want your leaf man to last longer than a day or two — there are some other options. You can use faux fabric leaves, which you can purchase online, at craft stores, or even at the dollar store. They would make really fun and colourful leaf people, and there’s lots of other leaf crafts you can make with them. Or you can buy paper leaves, or create your own. Use our free leaf template and print the leaves on coloured paper, or trace the outlines onto scrapbook paper or cardstock. Finally, you can use those same leaf templates to create coffee filter leaves and transform your creation into a leaf man!
Can I make this leaf people craft without pipe cleaners?
We love the look of the pipe cleaner arms and legs on our leaf people, but you can definitely make a leaf person without pipe cleaners. You can glue smaller leaves to the larger leaf to create arms and legs for your leaf man. Or you can glue the large leaf to a piece of paper and draw the arms and legs with marker. You can even glue beads or pom poms to the paper to make the leaf man’s arms and legs. It’s so easy to be creative with this fall activity!
These leaf people are so cute and friendly looking, and they’re really easy to make. Younger kids can practice their fine motor skills, and older kids can have fun creating their own leaf characters. So gather some autumn leaves and make these adorable leaf people – it’s so much fun for the whole family!
Here’s even more leaf craft ideas:
Fall Leaf Turkey Craft
Autumn Leaf Butterfly and Dragonflies
Marbled Fall Leaves Painting
Our book Low-Mess Crafts for Kids is loaded with 72 fun and simple craft ideas for kids! The projects are fun, easy and most importantly low-mess, so the clean up is simple!
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