My favorite fall tradition is making these funny leaf people. We love to make them as a family. This is a great project for kids age 3-103.
Collages like this are a great way to be creative! Making them into people stimulates the facial recognition parts of our brains.
If this seems fun to you, and you’d like to try it, here are some tips to make it easier.
Hopefully this project is one that you can make with the supplies you already have at home.
- Gather leaves: Go on a nature walk as a family to collect leaves, small twigs, weeds, flowers, grass blades, small rocks, spines, etc. We used a cake pan or bread pan to hold the bits as we walk and to contain the mess when we bring it inside.
- Paper: Card stock works best. You need sort of a lot of glue to attach leaves to paper and the water in the glue tends to make regular paper crinkle. (But regular paper works fine too.)
- Lay out the leaves and create your design before you start gluing. Challenge yourself with how much texture and color you can add. Does that helicopter seed pod look like a mustache? Use that as inspiration. I usually make one guy and one gal every year.
- Glue: We have used Elmer’s glue, tacky glue, and hot glue. They all work. The hot glue will cool super fast, and is best for older kids who can use it carefully. The heat can make dark parts on the leaves, so we like to glue along the midrib of leaves. Elmer’s glue is best for younger kids.
- Eyes: Make them from what you have. Googley eyes are super funny. If you have some, use them. If not, use small bits you collected for the eyes or draw the eyes on with sharpies. We also sometimes draw big lips or smiles with sharpies.
I hope this sparks joy and creativity in your family too!
If you make this, please tag @thecreativefamilyhome. We’d love to see your creations!
“What will you create today?”