Fall Kids Craft - Acorn People

This is a fun autumn craft for children, kindergarten and up. The younger the child, the more

help will be needed. Those without the fine motor skills to

draw the little faces, may enjoy directing your drawing and gluing the acorns

and leaves. 

This acorn craft makes a great companion activity to a story or poem about the mighty oak and its humble beginnings. It also is a fun activity to a lesson about the oak tree and the uses of acorns in nature (such as how squirrels gather and store them) and by American Indians and other peoples. Check with your local children's librarian for book suggestions.

Supplies

• Acorns with their caps (loose caps can be glued). The various shapes will determine the shapes of the acorn people's faces.
• Fine tip markers.
• Glue.
• Wooden clothespins: With springs or the old fashioned, wooden, duckbill type, which are slightly bigger.
• Autumn leaves: These should be small and a bit shorter than the sticks or clothespins because they will be the acorn people's dresses.
• Optional: Tiny twigs (for adding hands and feet if you choose).

Directions

Before adding the bodies, we'll first make the acorn people's faces. Here's how:

1. Check the caps on the acorns to make sure they won't easily fall off.
2. Glue any loose caps so that the acorn people can keep their hats.
3. Using fine tip markers, draw eyes, eyebrows, nose and mouth.
4. Using a fine tip marker, add any other features you want, such as a moustache, glasses, etc.*
5. After adding a face to the acorn, glue the acorn to the clothespin near the top, so that none of the clothespin rises above the acorn.

*When drawing the faces, you can make the expressions as cute or silly as you like. Give each of the acorn people his or her own personality.

Variation: Children may enjoy creating the facial features with natural items such as seeds from plants gathered on a nature hike.

If you want to give your acorn people arms that stick out from the leaf dresses, use the twigs and glue to create hands with fingers and arms. Then glue onto the

craft stick or clothespin before adding the leaf.

Next, glue the leaf to the front of the acorn person's stick or clothespin body.

Pants and shirt variation:

Using the old fashioned clothespin, attach the acorn so the clothespin facing in the direction that allows the two "legs" to appear side by side. Cut out a shirt and pair of pants from a leaf. Glue them onto the clothespin.

When the acorn people are completed, the clothespin legs will help them to stand up, but it's a good idea to prop them up against something so that they will not fall over. Also, if you want these to last longer than the leaves will, coat the leaves first with a leaf preservative (many crafts stores off and online carry these).

Another fu project for kids is: Pressing Flowers. Have a look at: How To Press Flowers