You only need to look out of the window to see that Autumn is here. There are conkers all around and the leaves are falling even though the trees are still green.
Usually Autumn is busy and filled with Halloween and Lantern Fest (more about that later) and I don't usually end up making anything for the Fall. However now and again I have had time and here are a couple of arts and crafts you can make this Fall. I will post more sometime this week.
First up is my Autumn Tree. I saw this somewhere on the Internet and this is the second year I have used the technique. It is very simple and easy but the children have to concentrate and use their fine motor skills to complete the picture. A great way to observe the kids and see if any of them are having problems.
All you need for this art project is a sheet a paper, paints and cotton buds/Q tips . Draw the outline of a tree (you can copy it if you don't want to draw each single one) then prepare some Autumn coloured paint (you don't need much so just a blob of each will be enough). Then you take a cotton bud/Q tip and dip (don't smear!) one end into the paint. Then the cotton bud/Q tip can be used to make the dots you see on the picture.
Make sure the children learn that they don't have to dip after each dot. They can make sometimes up to ten dots with one dip of paint. Try and get them to keep within the lines and check they are holding the cotton bud/Q tip properly. Give them time and see how long they take. It looks like a fast activity but I found most kids spend at least 10 to 15 mins on their tree.
You can let the kids write Autumn at the top and the word in their language if you are teaching English to non-native speakers. Our trees go into our Portfolios (not sure what that is?
Here is an article about Portfolios) to not only show development but also for seasonal order of the folder.
This is an easy arts & crafts project which doesn't use a lot of materials. You can use the cotton buds/Q tips for more than one child and use each cotton bud/Q tip for two colours (one each end). Tidying up afterwards is also easy because you just throw the cotton buds/Q tips away!
This next project was actually made by my colleague but I wanted to share it because it looks so cute.
Hedgehog isn't an easy word for English learners but it is an animal that's associated with this time of year. This arts & crafts activity needs some preparation time on your part but the kids will enjoy it.
Make yourself a template for the body, head and nose. Draw around the template on thick coloured paper if you want to hang them up as decoration like we did or thinner paper if it doesn't matter. Then you roughly cut around the shapes you have traced (don't cut them out perfectly!).
Then you can give the pieces to the children to cut out. They may find the nose difficult as it is small but the head shouldn't be a problem. The usual challenge with this one is cutting out the hedgehogs body with all those spikes. However if you are making this with older children it is a great way to see how good they are at cutting and if they need help with their development. Make sure you are ready to give them tips on how to improve their technique.
When all the pieces are cut out you just have to stick them together. My colleague used wiggly eyes and stuck tooth picks on the hedgehogs body to make it look more prickly. She also used white cardboard for the body and let the children paint the body using sponges and brown paint. The result was a nice effect that you can't really see in the photo above.
Have any ideas you would like to share? Feel free to comment in the comments section!
It is finally October and I am really excited about making more Ghoulish crafts! 
