Super Cute Autumn Garland Decoration for Kids to Make

Autumn is all about the harvest, the beautiful falling leaves and that hint of chill in the air. We love to get into the mood for each and every season and holiday here and how better to celebrate the start of autumn than with this cute garland decoration that even the youngest kids can help to make. Older children will even be able to make it by themselves with minimal help.


This fun craft idea uses coffee filters to make pumpkins and autumn leaves, stringing them together to make a beautiful garland which will welcome autumn into your home. Hang it over your nature table or in the hallway for guests and visitors to see. The kids will be so proud!

Check out our other autumn craft ideas for kids of all ages for more fun ideas too.

Preschoolers and junior age kids will love this fun fall coffee filter craft and there's even a bit of a STEM science element to dying the coffee filters the right colours for autumn.


We love using these kind of crafts as part of our home education studies, and this one is perfect for an autumn, trees or pumpkins study. You could even vary the shapes and introduce some apples for a an apple study too.

If you are planning an autumn study in your homeschool, don't miss this round up of the best autumn books for younger kids.

Made with just a few items that you probably already have in your kitchen, this cute fall garland craft is really pretty and fun to make.


Coffee Filter Fall Garland for Kids to Make

Materials

Here are all the materials you'll need:

Instructions


1. Cover a large cookie sheet with parchment paper, making sure to leave about 1 inch extra hanging over the sides.

2. Fold four coffee filters in half.


3. Using a pencil, draw half a pumpkin on the coffee filter, leaving only about ½ inch from the sides.


4. Cut out the pumpkin shape, or let your child do it if they are old enough.


5. Unfold the coffee filters, and you should have four full size pumpkin shapes.


6. Repeat steps 1-5 with the four coffee filters, but this time draw half of a leaf with your pencil, and then cut, and unfold for four full size leaves. You can pick up a free leaf template here.



7. Taking your pumpkin shapes, place them on a sheet of construction paper or any other material that will keep the marker from bleeding onto your surface.

8. With the orange permanent marker, draw semi-circles on the pumpkins to create the ribs of the pumpkin. Or you can completely skip this step if you prefer the pumpkin to have no ribs.


9. Repeat step four with the leaves, but use the green permanent marker to draw the veins of the leaves, or you can again skip this step if you prefer the leaves without veins.



10. Pour approximately ½-1 inch of water into four plastic cups.

11. Add 5 or more drops of green food colouring to the first cup. You want a very dark green colour, as the water will lighten in colour once applied to the coffee filters.

Repeat this process adding yellow to the second cup, red to the third cup, and a combination of red and yellow to the fourth cup to create orange.


12. Place your pumpkins on the parchment paper lined cookie sheet, making sure to leave plenty of space between each one. Preheat the oven to 170℉ / 75 C.


13. Using the medicine dropper, drop small drops of orange coloured water onto the pumpkin coffee filters. This is great fine motor practice for kids!




14. Then use the green coloured water to drop small amounts onto the stem of the pumpkins.




15. Place the pumpkins on the parchment paper in the oven, and bake for 5-6 minutes if they are only lightly wet, or 10-15 minutes if they are extremely wet. Check after 6 minutes, and if needed, blot excess water from the cookie sheet with paper towels.

16. While you wait, it's time to colour the leaves. Use all colours of the coloured water to decorate the leaves.





16. Once dry, remove the pumpkins from the cookie tray and put the leaves into the oven to dry. Repeat the times in step 15, checking the leaves after 5-6 minutes. It is likely they will need less time in the oven than the pumpkins did.


17. Once all the pumpkins and leaves are completely dry, using the small hole puncher, punch two holes approximately 1-2 inches apart at the top of each pumpkin and each leaf.



18. String the twine or wool through the holes, alternating pumpkins and leaves.




19. Hang your pumpkin and leaves garland on a mantle, doorway, shelf or anywhere else you want to decorate for Autumn.






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