Nature offers endless resources and gives us the most beautiful materials for crafting and being creative. Natural materials are free and sustainable, as you don't have to buy extra glitter and plastic to create. Whether pine cones, leaves, seeds, flowers, wood, or stones: Even small children can be involved in collecting and crafting. When it gets darker and rainy outside, you have the opportunity to conjure up wonderful craft ideas from the natural materials you've collected. Whether alone or with the kids: In this article, you'll find inspiration for easy crafting fun.
Crafting with natural materials: Inspired by nature
Autumn is a great time for a walk or a trip into nature. It's neither too warm nor too cold, and true treasures roll out everywhere. Collecting unique materials in a bag or basket can create truly one-of-a-kind items! After all, every stick, stone, and cone is unique. Crafting is not only fun, but also promotes creativity and is helpful for fine motor skills and concentration at any age. If you've been collecting during the golden season but aren't quite sure what to do with natural materials, here are the best craft ideas for autumn.
Pressing plants: Magical cards and works of art for your home
A great idea for crafting with natural materials is pressing plants and letting them dry. Whether flowers or other stems and leaves, the finished products can make great decorations for the home or to give as gifts. All you need is a heavy book and some newspaper to prevent the leaves and blossoms from staining the book when pressed. To do this, place newspaper inside the book and the desired plants in between. Then weigh it down with more books or another weight. You should change the newspaper every few days until the plant is completely dry. This can take up to 14 days, depending on the type of plant. This can make great greeting cards, bookmarks, or works of art for your walls. To encourage younger children to join in the crafting, you can help them with the delicate plants and give them pretty vegan animal stickers to stick on.
Pine cones: Simple ideas for decorating
Whether it's winter or spring, pine cones are a crafting highlight at any time of year. They're one of those things everyone loves to collect and are a great material for a variety of creations. Are you already planning for Christmas? How about a Christmas tree decorated with natural materials! Whether natural, painted gold, silver, or red, pine cones are an excellent substitute for Christmas tree balls and any other Christmas decorations. They also make great mobiles.
A particularly lovely and sustainable idea is to make a bird feeder out of the cones you find. To do this, first spread some peanut butter on the cone and then roll it in a bowl of birdseed. Tie the cone to a tree with string and watch the birds eat.
Crowns made of dried leaves
Especially in autumn, nature gives us leaves in wonderful colors. From gold to burgundy, there are a wide variety of shades to discover. Once the children have collected plenty of leaves, you can use them to make beautiful crowns and wreaths. All you need is a strip of cardboard, liquid glue, and paint. The cardboard can be painted in a beautiful color or covered with special, sustainable flower stickers . Then stick the desired leaves on one after the other, and your autumnal leaf crown is ready!
Chestnuts and acorns
In autumn, you can never gather enough chestnuts and acorns; the possibilities and craft ideas are endless! From September to early November, the prickly shells open, revealing the wonderful fruits that can be used to craft wonderful figures. With skewers, toothpicks, and a small hand drill, you can easily create quirky caterpillars, proud horses, and chestnut men. Older children can do it all by themselves, but younger ones will need help drilling holes. Get some googly eyes and watch the kids get creative.
Stones: Paint and use creatively
Rocks offer a wonderful opportunity to involve even the youngest children in crafts with natural materials. Any child who can hold a paintbrush can paint a rock. Flat, light-colored rocks, in particular, can be transformed into works of art with paint. If you're spending more time at the beach than in the woods, you can also search for and paint shells along with the rocks.
First, all stones or shells should be washed and scrubbed with an old toothbrush to remove any dirt. Once dry, you can start painting right away. Acrylic paints or waterproof markers are best for this. You can get creative with the colors and conjure up endless motifs. From rainbows to fish to mandalas: each stone will be truly unique.
Branches and driftwood: wreaths and colorful snakes
Driftwood can be found in the most unusual shapes on riverbanks, lakes, or by the sea. The sanded wood is smooth and, thanks to its light color, easy to paint. Young children can paint colorful snakes with watercolors, while parents and teenagers can also assemble intricate mobiles or figures.
If you're in the forest, however, you can concentrate on collecting sticks and thinner twigs. Their elasticity allows you to make beautiful wreaths with a little practice. These can then be used to create beautiful Advent wreaths, autumn wreaths, or door wreaths.
There are no limits to your creativity
No matter which natural materials you choose, the sky's the limit when it comes to crafting! If you already have enough decorations in your living room, you can also create works of art right on the forest floor. Take advantage of good weather for walks and gather everything you need, and when the weather's bad, sit down at home with all your materials and see what you can create. With pretty colors, interesting stickers , and a bit of glitter, even the most reluctant crafter is guaranteed to become an enthusiastic crafter!
