Fall Crafts Corner
August 28, 2024
During my years teaching at a day care/preschool and teaching elementary Sunday school classes, I found that boys liked to create craft projects just as much as the girls. In the fall, many parts of the country have beautiful fall evenings with cooler temperatures. Some parts of the country experience rainy or snowy nights. Below are several craft ideas for your Ranger Kids and Discovery Rangers groups that focus on sunflowers and trees.
RANGER KIDS
I tried to select craft projects that K–2nd graders could complete with little individual supervision. If you are the only leader with several boys, you will need crafts that boys can work on with some independence, allowing you to focus on the younger boys in the class.
Sunflower Noodles
I modified this from the website below so that it would be more suitable to a classroom with limited craft time. The supplies of brown construction paper, scissors, green and black markers, glue, googly eyes, bowtie pasta, and black beans or chocolate chips will let your Ranger Kids make these cute sunflowers. You’ll also need a supply of construction paper or cardstock to glue the sunflower to. If your craft time is limited, have the brown circles for the middle of the sunflower precut, and only make one sunflower on the page. Another thing that will save time is having the boys use the black markers to make the seeds on the sunflower instead of gluing black beans or chocolate chips.
#1 on page at https://abcdeelearning.com/fall-crafts-for-kids/
Fork Printed Trees
Ranger Kids will enjoy the experience of creating these trees with ordinary objects. You’ll need paper plates, brown markers, white construction paper or cardstock, plastic forks, and paint (brown, red, orange, and yellow). Be sure to have paint shirts. Boys with paint and forks . . . enough said. Once the boys draw the tree truck, they can begin building layers of colors with the paint on the forks. You may suggest they do one color at a time. You could also have paper towels so they can wipe the fork between colors. Every tree will be as unique as the boy who created it.
#2 on page at https://abcdeelearning.com/fall-crafts-for-kids/
DISCOVERY RANGERS
I tried to select craft projects that 3rd–5th graders could complete with little supervision. If you are the only leader with several boys, you will need crafts that boys can work on with some independence, allowing you to focus on the boys who may need extra help.
Sunflower Craft
Kids this age love to make 3-D art projects. This sunflower will be a great late summer craft if you have night of storms or if it is too hot to go outside. You’ll need colored paper (yellow, green, and brown), scissors, glue sticks, tape, pencils, and twine. You will need plenty of time to let the boys cut and roll each of the petals for the sunflower. If you are like me and prefer to use template, I’ve added a simple leaf template below. If time is an issue, this project could be completed over two weeks, or the petals could be premade so that the boys can begin making the craft immediately.
https://www.easypeasyandfun.com/paper-sunflower-craft/
Template: https://resources.homemade-gifts-made-easy.com/leaf-template/leaf-template-simple-oval-large.pdf
3-D Fall Tree
This craft doesn’t have many supplies: brown paper lunch bag, glue, scissors, and felt leaves or colored paper (red, orange, yellow). However, the boys can use those supplies to make some unique and interesting 3-D trees. The website below suggests using felts leaves from a craft store. I’m thriftier in my craft projects, so I’ve provided the leaf template below that could be printed on colored paper for the boys to cut out. If time is also an issue, this craft could be completed over two weeks, or the leaves could be precut so that the craft could be completed in one week.
https://www.coffeecupsandcrayons.com/fall-paper-bag-tree/
RANGER KIDS & DISCOVERY RANGERS
Fall Leaf People
This is a great craft for the fall. You’ll need pipe cleaners, googly eyes, black markers, a glue gun, and colored paper (green, orange, red, and yellow). This project calls for fall leaves. There are several options. You can use real leaves or purchase silk or felt leaves from a craft store. I would probably use the template below and print them on colored paper for the boys to cut out because I’m thrifty. The boys could make one or several, depending on how much time you have.
https://onelittleproject.com/leaf-people/
Fall Bean Mosaics
I’ve done bean mosaics with my Stars classes (3rd-5th graders) over the years. You can spend two to three weeks working on them, so you’ll need a place to allow the art to dry until the next meeting. The supplies can be as diverse as you want, based on the leaf you choose. You’ll need cardstock, markers, glue and glue sticks, scissors, pencils, and dried beans (various). I would have the boys choose one or two leaves to cut out and glue to the cardstock. You can have the boys color the leaves with the same color as the beans they plan to use. This step may not be needed if the boys really fill in the template with beans. Then, they can begin gluing the beans. Each boy will make unique leaves to take home.
https://onelittleproject.com/fall-bean-mosaics/
Template: https://onelittleproject.com/leaf-template/
Sandra Blanchard
Administrative Assistant to the National Director
Royal Rangers USA
Royal Rangers USA