During our study of early America, we have enjoyed several Colonial America crafts and Native American crafts for kids.  

One of our favorites was learning how to make corn husk dolls.

Affiliate links have been used in this post for your convenience. See my full disclosure for more details.

Fall is the perfect time of year for making a corn husk doll with the kids, whether it’s for a hands-on learning activity or as a fun kids fall craft.

If you search online you will be amazed by some of the beautiful corn husk dolls people have created.   This version is super simple and perfect for kids.

If you are studying early American history, you may also want to check out how to make homemade quills and create your own tin can lanterns.

Corn Husk Dolls

Materials Needed:

• Corn Husks 
• Twine
• Paper Towels
• Scrap Fabric (Optional)
• Permanent Markers or Acrylic Paint (Optional)

For each doll you will need 5 corn husks, a couple more if you want to make a fuller skirt for a girl doll.  

We got our corn husks from the corn we picked this year in our garden.  You can also purchase corn husks specifically for crafting at a local craft store or find them online.

How to Make a Corn Husk Doll

Start by soaking the corn husks in a bowl of water for 10 minutes to soften them.

Once the corn husks are softened, use paper towels to blot the excess water from your corn husks.

Stack 4 corn husks on top of each other, with the pointy ends at the top.

Tie a small piece of twine around the bundle, 1 inch from the top.

Now take the loose ends of the corn husks and flip them inside out around the tied end, so that 2 corn husks go on each side.  (See the middle picture below.)   This will form the head of your corn leaf doll.  

Use a bit of twine to tie the folded corn husks right below the bundled up portion to form the head.

Take your 5th corn husk and trim off both ends.  Roll it tightly lengthwise and tie a small piece of twin at each end to hold it closed and form the dolls hands.

Open up the layered corn husks and slide this rolled up corn husk between them so there are 2 corn husks on top and 2 on bottom.  This will become the doll’s arms.

Tie a piece of twine tightly right under the doll’s arms.

If you want a girl doll, at this point you can be done.  Or, for a fuller skirt, trim the ends of 2 more corn husks and tie them around the doll’s waist.

For a boy doll, separate the skirts into 2 equal sections and use twine to tie at the knees and ankles.

Corn Husk Dolls History

Native Americans made sure no part of the corn plant went to waste.  Once the corn was picked and eaten, the husks could be braided to form rope and twine.  They could also be used to fill pillows and matresses.  

These simple dolls made with corn husks were also made by the early Americans. 

During Colonial America times the dolls would usually be left plain. 

This is especially true when Native Americans made these dolls from corn husks. 

There are a number of legends explaining why the dolls would be left without a face.  You may want to read the Legend of the No Face Doll with your child. 

My kids chose to use permanent markers to give their dolls faces and glued corn silk on as hair.  If desired, your child could create a face with markers or paint as well.

They also fashioned some clothes out of felt scraps, tying it around the dolls with a bit of twine.

Whether or not your child decorates their doll, learning how to make corn husk dolls is a fun Colonial America craft for kids that helps make history come alive.

More Early America Activities to Try:

• Build a Model of a Wigwam
• Make Invisible Ink (Like Spies from the Revolutionary War)

More fun Kids Fall Crafts:

• The Ultimate Apple Crafts & Activities 
• 20 Leaf Crafts & Activities with Real Leaves 

Originally published Sept. 15, 2017.

The post How to Make a Corn Husk Doll first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

After all, with all the reds and golden yellows decorating the trees, who could resist trying their hand at capturing that beauty in art?  

If you are looking for something bright and colorful (and fairly mess-free),  this simple Q Tip painting fall tree craft is perfect for young kids.  

As one of the requirements for the Welcome to the Daisy Flower Garden badge in our  Girl Scout Daisy troop, we decided to make some pretty fall decorations for a local nursing home. 

This fall tree craft was fun for the girls to make, and fairly mess-free.  (Which, as a leader, I loved.) 

As a bonus, painting with Q Tips is a fun way to work on fine motor skills, making this Q Tip fall tree perfect for preschoolers and kindergartners.      For another fun fall craft perfect for working on fine motor skills, check out this turkey craft. 

Q Tip Fall Tree Painting 

Affiliate links have been used below, which means I may earn a commission for qualified purchases.  See my full disclosure for more details.

Materials Needed: 

• White paper (Thicker paper like this works better for paint.)
• Washable Acrylic paints in fall colors (We used yellow, orange, red, brown and green.)
• Cotton Swabs
• Brown crayons
• Empty egg carton or paper plate to use as paint pallette

Start your fall tree painting by using your brown crayon to draw a tree trunk and branches in the center of your paper.  

You could also use marker for this, but if it is washable marker the paint may make the marker smear.  We found crayons worked great.  

Get as detailed as you’d like with your tree trunk.  You can add a hole to the tree, or even a couple squirrels on the branches.

Once your trunk and branches are drawn, it’s time for the paint.  

Pour a small amount of each of your paint colors into the portions of an empty egg carton, with one color in each section.   Keeping with the changing colors of the leaves in fall, we used: red, yellow, orange, brown, and green.

Place a couple clean cotton swabs into each color of paint.  

Use the Q Tips to dab small amounts of paint onto the tree branches, creating brightly colored fall leaves.  

Be sure to add a few colorful leaves to the ground below the tree, too.

(Unfortunately, school cafeterias do NOT have good lighting for pictures.)

The fall tree paintings we did at Scouts turned out beautifully. 

And I love that some of the girls chose to draw squirrels in their trees as well.

We brought our fall Q Tip trees to the local nursing home to help cheer up residents.  It was the perfect fall tree craft for kindergartners.  It would be great for preschoolers, too. 

This Q Tip painting fall tree craft looks beautiful hanging up.  

You’ll also like these posts:

• Spring Trees Bundled Q Tip Painting
• Leaf Resist Painting 
• Apple Crafts & Activities 

Originally published on November 15, 2014.  

The post Colorful Q-Tip Painted Fall Tree Craft for Kids first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

Fall tree crafts are always popular, but what about crafting with real leaves? 

I’ve created a collection of the best leaf crafts for kids and leaf activities for you to enjoy with the kids this autumn. 

With their brilliant hues of reds, yellows, and orange, the autumn leaves are already works of art all on their own.  

It just makes sense to use them in a few crafts with real leaves.   

Don’t worry.  Even if you don’t have leaves changing where you live, you can do many of these using (affiliate link) cloth leaves.  

Leaf Crafts for Kids

Leaf Rubbings — This has been a fall favorite for generations.  Using crayons to create leaf rubbings in perfect for helping little ones strengthen hand muscles and fine motor skills.

Falling Leaf Art — I love the mix of science and art in this super simple and beautiful activity.

Leaf Creatures —  Once the kids have collected a few fallen leaves, use them to create a variety of animals, fairies, and other creatures.  Your child’s imagination will soar in this simple and fun activity.

Easy Fall Wreath — Young children will love turning those beautiful autumn leaves into a colorful wreath to display in this leaf craft for toddlers. 

Ladybug Craft — Turn those fallen leaves into adorable spotted ladybugs.

Leafy Fox — Turn a maple leaf into a cut fox with this kids craft. 

Leaf Resist Painting — Have you tried tape-resist painting with the kids?  You will love this fall-inspired twist to it, using leaves.

Leaf Crown — I adore this craft!  It has such a beautiful touch of whimsy to it.  Just imagine the pretend play that will occur once your child has their very own leaf crown.  Are they a nature fairy?  The prince trying to fight dragons?  Create your own leaf crowns this fall and unlock the magic.

Leaf Luminaries — Turn a recycled plastic jug into a beautiful luminary to display in your window or use as a centerpiece this fall.

Leaf Lanterns — This is a similar idea, with no plastic jug needed.  These craft with real leaves would be beautiful centerpiece.

Marbled Fall Leaf — Your child will delight in painting real leaves using this fun and colorful technique. 

Fall Leaf Turkey — Turn colorful autumn leaves become a colorful turkey tail in this craft.

Why stop at crafts?  

Brightly colored autumn leaves are perfect for sensory exploration.  They can also be used in many different hands-on learning activities.

Leaf Activities

Fall Nature Sensory Bin — Use those colorful leaves, acorns, and more to create your own fall nature bin for the kids to explore.

Autumn Sensory Bottle  — Use those fall leaves and acorns to create your own fall sensory bottle.

Alphabet Leaves — Discover how you can use those leaves to help your child work on identifying letters in the alphabet.  

Leaf Maze — Corn mazes are big around here in the fall.  This year head outdoors and create a life-sized maze using all those fallen leaves.

Scissor Skills —  Developing scissor skills needed for school doesn’t have to be boring.  Instead of just cutting paper, toddlers and preschoolers can have fun cutting leaves.  And, as a bonus, each snip releases a bit of leaf fragrance — a sensory experience they are sure to love.

Lacing Skills — Thicker, sturdier leaves provide a unique lacing opportunity.  Once your child has threaded them with colorful yarn, the leaves can be tied together to make a hanging bunting decoration.

Sewing Skills — Another take on the idea of lacing with leaves.  Learn how to prepare your leaf and make a simple “needle” for your child to use while sewing leaves.  This would be a perfect quiet time activity for preschoolers.

Sorting Skills — Toddlers and preschoolers can use those fall leaves to work on sorting skills.  The bigger your collection of leaves, the more ways you can find to sort them.

Fall Leaf Science Experiment — Help kids better understand why the leaves change color.  Use chromatography to extract fall colors from green leaves.  Then find out how you can use the experiment for a bigger lesson, too.

How to Preserve Fall Leaves for Crafts

Want those beautiful colors to last longer?  

Preserve your fall leaves and keep them looking fresh for all your leaf crafts and activities.

• Preserve Those Fall Leaves — Wondering just how to keep those beautiful colors?  Learn the best ways to keep those autumn leaves looking fresh for all your crafting needs.
• Press and Preserve Leaves — Here is one more way to preserve those beautiful fall leaves.

As the leaves begin their beautiful display of color, be sure to collect some for leaf crafts for kids and leaf activities. 

More crafts & activities perfect for fall:

• 50 Apple Crafts and Activities
• 10 Activities Using Real Pumpkins
• Halloween STEM Activities 

Originally published September 11, 2016. 

The post Colorful Leaf Crafts and Activities Using Real Leaves first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

But what do you do with all those leaves once you get home?  

When it comes to crafting with leaves, there really is only so many times kids want to do leaf rubbings.  And, if your kids are like mine, they don’t want to just throw the leaves away.  

Use some of those colorful leaves to make leaf creatures this fall.   It’s one of our favorite leaf crafts for kids. 

Leaf creatures are fun to make and really let kids use their imaginations.  It’s fun to see how each leaf will be used.

Turned one way that maple leaf might be an alien’s head; flip it over and it could become a butterfly.  The possibilities in this leaf craft are endless!

 You can also use those leaves in a quick fall nature bin.

Leaf Creatures

Materials Needed:

• Leaves
• Double-Sided Tape
• Markers
• Craft paper
• Wiggly eyes

Collect some colorful leaves on a fall walk with the kids.  Make sure the leaves are dry before you start crafting with them.

Depending on your child’s age, you might want to spark your child’s imagination by suggesting what a few leaves look like.  “This one looks like the wings of a butterfly!”

When you are ready to begin, secure the leaves to your paper with double-sided tape.

Use markers and wiggly eyes to help add details as you create your very own leaf craft pictures. 

My favorite part of this fall leaf craft is watching their imaginations come to life.

The kids carefully chose the leaves and arranged them on paper.  That little brown leaf really does make the perfect owl!

Once your child has created a picture or two with the leaves they collected, you may find that they want to look for more leaves. 

My daughter wanted to hunt our front yard.  She soon was talking about what each leaf would become as she picked them up.

She mulled over the leaves, looking for two that looked alike to become fairy wings.  And she chose a spiky, little leaf to make a cute hedgehog.

Tips for this Leaf Craft for Kids:

• You can press the finished artwork between 2 heavy books overnight to keep leaves from curling up.
• You could also cover pictures with clear contact paper if you wish to preserve them.
• Let your kids know what you plan to do with the leaves when you get home.  You may be surprised by how picky they become when collecting those leaves.  

We really enjoyed making our leaf creatures.  It’s such a fun leaf craft, and the perfect way to use some of those fall leaves we’ve collected on our walks.

You’ll also like:

• Apple Activities for Kids
• Awesome Camp Crafts

This post was originally posted on September 30, 2015.

The post Leaf Creatures: A Fun Fall Leaf Craft first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

While spooky (or funny) carved Jack’O Lanterns are fun to see glowing on porches during trick-or-treat, the kids always love  no carve pumpkin decorating ideas the best.  

This Paint and Glitter Pumpkin has become my sparkle-loving daughter’s favorite.  I’m sure your child will love it, too. 

This no carve pumpkin is sure to be a hit with any little girl (or boy) that loves a bit of glitz and glitter.

Your child will also love recyclying crayons in this drip pumpkin decorating idea. 

Paint & Glitter Pumpkin

Materials Needed:

• Pumpkin
• Paint 
• Paint Brushes
• Glitter

Allow your child to paint their pumpkin as they wish.  They may choose to paint swirls, polka dots, stripes, or even a picture on their pumpkin.  

For a bit of extra sparkle, we used glitter paint.  (You can never have too much glitter!)

While the paint is still wet, have your child sprinkle glitter on the pumpkin.  If the paint has dried in spots they want glitter, they can add a bit more paint.  

To get glitter on the sides of the pumpkin you can help tilt it sideways to sprinkle the glitter, or try my daughter’s favorite method:  pour a small amount in your hand and then blow it onto the wet paint.

When my daughter finished her pumpkin we sat in a place of honor on the front porch.  I love how the glitter catches and reflects the sunlight (It’s so hard to capture its awesomeness in pictures.)

Small glittery pumpkins would also be cute as a table centerpiece.  (For another, more adult version, check out this sparkly pumpkin from My Frugal Adventures.)

Do your kids like no carve pumpkin ideas?  This year get out the paints and let them make a few of these sparkly paint and glitter pumpkins.

Also check out:

• 10 Activities with Real Pumpkins  — Why just decorate those pumpkins?  Here are 10 fun ways to play with real pumpkins this fall. 
• Crayon Drip Pumpkins  —  Recycle those broken crayons and create colorful, one of a kind pumpkins. 
• 30+ Halloween Party Ideas  —  From DIY decorations, tasty treats, games and more, everything you need to host a party they will remember for years. 
• 50 of the Best Apple Crafts and Activities  —  Apple crafts are always a hit in the fall.  You’ll find 50 of the best kids crafts and activities that use apples in this roundup post. 

The post Paint & Glitter Pumpkin first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

When we found a small white pumpkins at the store, I could hardly say no to the two excited kids sticking pumpkins in the cart.  And so we came home with a few.  

The washi tape decorated pumpkins became a pretty, simple fall centerpiece for our dining table.  

We love creating with colorful tape.  In fact, we’ve had lots of fun making duct tape water bottle holders and even a colorful duct tape sit-upon. 

This was our first experience with washi tape, and we had so much fun! 

Affiliate links have been used below.  See my full disclosure for more details. 

Washi Tape Decorated Pumpkins

A few rolls of fall-colored washi tape (browns, orange, and yellow), is all it takes to give those little pumpkins a boost and turn them into a cute centerpiece for your table.

This craft is so simple that my 6 and 8 year-old were able to do it.

• Simply start with one color of tape and start applying it at the base of the pumpkin’s stem.  Cut it off at the bottom of the pumpkin.
• Then turn the pumpkin around and do another strip of tape in the same color directly across from the first strip, essentially dividing the pumpkin in half.
• Our pumpkins were quite small, so we used the same pattern of tape once again to divide into quarters.
• Then use a different color of washi tape in between the quartered sections.
• A collection of 2-3 small pumpkins make a cute fall centerpiece to be proud of.

This simple idea is just one of the many crafts you will find in this awesome book:   Washi Tape Crafts: 110 Ways to Decorate Just About Anything.  

If you are a fan of washi tape, or you’re just someone who has admired it from afar but didn’t know what to do with it, this book is for you!  

It is literally jammed-packed full of washi tape hints and craft ideas.  Projects range from these simple washi tape pumpkins, to decorating light switches and window blinds and even making intricate flowers and jewelry — all using washi tape.

And, the book comes with 10 rolls of washi tape to get you started, making it a great gift idea!

This super simple washi tape craft is perfect for fall.   Your child will love creating their own washi tape pumpkin for the table.  

You’ll also enjoy these posts:

• Crayon Drip Pumpkins
• Engineer a Pumpkin Pulley
• Pumpkin Volcano STEM Activity 

*This was orginally a sponsored post.  All opinions are, as always, completely my own.  

The post Washi Tape Craft: Simple Fall Centerpiece first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.