Sweet and Simple Nature Craft: Make a Fall Leaf Crown

Fall is in full swing here on the West Coast and one of the best things about it is all of the streets lined with beautifully coloured trees and fallen leaves. We love walking along and searching for particularly pretty ones, and this fall we’re making sure that our collected leaves go to good use. Our first project is this gorgeously simple leaf crown that is fun to make and perfect for imaginative play. 

Of course the most important part of any fall leaf crown is fall leaves, so get outside and gather up some beautiful ones just before starting this project.

Here’s what you’ll need to create your own simple fall leaf crowns:

• colourful fall leaves
• thin strips of card stock or construction paper
• scissors
• a stapler and staples

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Alright, now onto the crown assembly. First off, start by inviting your little one to snip off the leaves’ stems. This provides great fine motor practice and will ensure that no little eyes get poked while the leaf crowns are being worn.

Next, staple two paper strips together in order to make a ring that fits your child’s head nicely. If you have older children, this is a great time to go over how to use a stapler properly and safely as we’re going to ask them to staple on their own leaves next. And if you have younger children, not to worry — you can help them with the stapler throughout the project by using hand-over-hand support or by positioning and holding the pieces for them while they operate the stapler. Either way, they’ll be using and strengthening those little hand muscles, which is fantastic.

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With the paper ring created, invite your child to start stapling on their leaves. You’ll want to make sure that the leaves aren’t pointing downwards towards little eyes, but other than that, there are no real rules here. We tried our best to alternate colours and overlap the leaves to fully cover the paper ring, but let your little one’s creativity take over with this step.

Continue adding leaves until the paper strip is completely covered and then you’re done! Pop that pretty crown on your head and let the imaginary play begin!

PRO TIP: While the leaves on this crown will dry out and crumble in a day or two, you can make a long lasting fall leaf crown using faux fall leaves that can be purchased at craft stores and dollar stores. Swapping out the staples for craft glue and the paper strips for a lovely ribbon that ties at the back will take the project to the next level too!