Leaf Creature Craft: An Easy Fun Fall Activity

Looking for an easy fall craft to create? All you’ll need is a few fall leaves, glue, card stock, and your imagination. Let’s get started…

I first created these creatures way back when I was student teaching. The teacher I worked under, Mrs. Johnson, was super creative and always had the most interesting crafts and projects for the kids. One day we took a walk as a class, collected leaves, pressed them, and then several days later made our leaf creatures.

Tips on Collecting Leaves

I find a rainy day to be great for collecting, but as long as the leaves are not crunchy they will work fine. The damp leaves seem to press easier. Be sure to collect all shapes and colors of leaves. This makes the creative process of designing your creatures more fun.

Once all the leaves are collected, I lay the leaves flat and put them inside the pages of an old book. I find it best to lay them between two sheets of paper so they won’t damage the book especially if they are damp. I then stack several books on top of the leaf book. After just a day or two they are flat enough to work with.

Designing Your Leaf Creature

I like to use black card stock for the background. Take time to lay the leaves out, turn them, put them in different positions until you can see a creature. You could use smaller leaves for arms, legs, antennae, fins, etc.

After the creature is laid out be sure to include eyes. If you have googly eyes that would be great. I usually cut circles out of construction paper and use a black sharpie for the pupil. I prefer to not include a mouth on these creatures but you do what you need to do. I think Elmer’s glue works best for this project.

Once the creature is complete I like to press the project under the weight of a book. Pro Tip: Be sure to lay a plastic sheet or wax paper over the top of the creation so the glue won’t ease out, stick to the book and ruin your project.

I’d love to see your leaf creatures. Post them with the #ExploreAndThriveCraft

Some years I haven’t had the time to use the leaves or totally forgot that I was pressing leaves in a book – no worries they will be ready for next year!

You may also like A Challenge to Create Daily or Our Winter Traditions.

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