Autumn Arts & Crafts #2

Autumn is the best Season for Arts & Crafts because Mother Nature gives us so many cool and unusual materials to use!

Leaves, twigs, conkers and many more interesting items can be found and used in a variety of ways and here are just a couple of ideas!

Conker Shell Hedgehogs

First you will need some conkers shells so make sure your kids don't just throw them away and keep the prize inside! ;)  After all the shells are just as prickly and spiky as hedgehogs!  You will also need some modeling clay that air dries or salt dough (salzteig).  

This one is pretty easy and a lot of fun.  Just let the kids pick a conker shell and then let them add clay/dough legs, face and tail (not sure if hedgehogs have such long tails but the kids added it!)  To make the eyes and mouth you will need toothpicks/cocktail sticks but you can also use a sharp pencil.

Obviously the parts need some time to dry and sometimes you will need to add some glue if the clay/dough doesn't stay attached to the conker shell (some do...some don't...not sure why!)  But the end result is cute and it is always fun to see what kind of faces the children give their hedgehogs!

Conker People

I have seen lots of conker arts & crafts projects with conkers using toothpicks/cocktail sticks to make people or animals but they also fall apart so easily.  So one year I made these conker people.

The kids pick a conker and add some wool as hair and make a tiny hat out of paper.  The feet are also cut out and help keep the conker standing up when glued on.  Lastly a couple of eyes, nose and mouth complete the conker person.

Each one looks different because everyone used a different combination of colours.  Also this project used up all those bits and pieces of coloured paper and wool we had been saving up for this kind of rainy day activity.  Basically just recycling.  Hardly any hassle, no need to prepare anything and the most important thing, the kids loved it!

So enjoy a nice long Autumn walk with your kids and get collecting!  

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