Here’s a fun and easy fall kids craft using sticks, leaves, and watercolor paints:

🍂 Watercolor Leaf & Stick Collage

Materials Needed:

• Fallen leaves (different shapes & sizes)
• Small sticks or twigs
• Watercolor paints
• Paintbrushes
• Cup of water
• White cardstock or watercolor paper
• Glue or glue stick

Directions:

1. Collect Nature Items
   Take a short nature walk and gather colorful fall leaves and sticks. Try to find a variety of leaf shapes.
2. Paint the Leaves
   Use watercolors to paint directly onto the leaves. Kids can make them bright, rainbow-colored, or stay with warm fall tones (reds, oranges, yellows, browns). Let them dry on paper towels.
3. Paint a Background
   On the cardstock or watercolor paper, have kids paint a simple background—a light blue sky, a sunset, or just a splash of blended fall colors. Let dry.
4. Create a Collage
   Once dry, glue the sticks onto the paper to form tree trunks, branches, or fun shapes (like a leaf frame). Then glue the painted leaves onto the branches, or scatter them around like falling leaves.
5. Optional Details
   Kids can add grass at the bottom, draw pumpkins, or flick watered-down paint with the brush for a “fall splatter” effect.

Finished Craft:

You’ll have a colorful 3D fall tree collage where real leaves and sticks mix with watercolor art. Every child’s version will look unique!

Materials Needed

• A variety of leaves (different shapes, sizes, and colors)
• Glue stick or white craft glue
• Construction paper or cardstock (light-colored background works best)
• Googly eyes (optional, or draw your own with a marker)
• Markers or crayons
• Scissors (kid-safe)

Instructions

1. Collect Leaves
   Take a little nature walk and gather leaves. Try to find round ones (for beetles or ladybugs), long ones (for dragonfly wings), and pointy ones (for antennae or legs).
2. Create the Bug’s Body
   
   • Use a large oval or round leaf for the bug’s main body.
   • Add a smaller leaf on top for the head.
3. Add Wings & Legs
   
   • Dragonfly: two long skinny leaves on each side.
   • Ladybug: one large round leaf, cut down the middle for wings.
   • Beetle: oval leaves layered for a hard shell.
4. Decorate
   
   • Glue on googly eyes or draw them.
   • Use markers to add spots, stripes, or antennae.
   • Draw extra legs around the leaves to complete the bug.
5. Make a Bug Collection
   Create different bugs on the same paper—a butterfly, beetle, dragonfly, ladybug—turn it into a “Leaf Bug Zoo”!

Extension Ideas

• 3D Bugs: Glue your leaf bugs onto popsicle sticks to make puppets.
• Bug Habitat: Draw grass, flowers, or a tree around them so the bugs have a home.
• Learning Twist: Label the bugs with names and fun facts (great for older kids).

Here’s a fun kids scavenger hunt for a farmers market! You can print it as a checklist or turn it into a game with stickers/prizes.

🧺 Farmers Market Scavenger Hunt for Kids

✅ Find These Fruits & Veggies

• 🍎 A red fruit
• 🍌 Something yellow
• 🥒 A bumpy vegetable
• 🥕 Something orange
• 🍇 A bunch of something

✅ Color Hunt

• 🌽 Something green and yellow
• 🍓 Something red and tiny
• 🥦 Something shaped like a tree
• 🍠 Something purple

✅ Market Sights & Smells

• 🥖 A bakery stand with bread or cookies
• 🌻 Flowers for sale
• 🍯 A jar of honey
• 🧀 A block of cheese
• 🎶 Someone playing music

✅ Bonus Challenges

• Find the biggest fruit or vegetable you can spot!
• Count how many dogs you see at the market 🐶
• Ask a farmer what their favorite thing to grow is 🌱

✨ Optional Twist: Give each child a small bag and let them collect 2–3 scavenger hunt items (like a fruit, veggie, or flower) to bring home.