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September 6, 2013

Fall Centerpiece Craft for Kids

Autumn Paper Pulp Branch ~ Fall Kids Craft

Fall Centerpiece Craft for Kids ~ Simple craft and sensory experience rolled into one. This is not your traditional tissue paper craft. Check out what was used to create the leaves! My kids LOVED this!

Its Day 5 of our Fall Play Recipe Series.  If you missed any of our series, check out our edible Pumpkin Spiced Marshmallow Dough, Homemade Cranberry Fall Paint, Glowing Bread Clay and our Erupting Fall Playdough.  Today we are sharing a fun Nature Play Recipe.  Our adorable Fall Centerpiece Craft for Kids is so simple to make and will look great as part of your Thanksgiving display.

Fall Centerpiece Craft for Kids ~ Simple craft and sensory experience rolled into one. This is not your traditional tissue paper craft. Check out what was used to create the leaves! My kids LOVED this!

Making Paper Pulp is really simple…

  • Have the kids sort paper scraps by colors into separate bowls and tear them into little pieces (we actually cheated and used the paper shredder).  Since we were making fall leaves, we used yellow, orange and red paper.
  • Pour boiling water over the shredded paper and let it sit for a few hours.  This will help loosen the paper fibers and make it easier to blend it into pulp.
  • Scoop small batches of softened paper and water mixture into a blender and pulse into a smooth pulp.
  • Super easy!

Fall Centerpiece Craft for Kids ~ Simple craft and sensory experience rolled into one. This is not your traditional tissue paper craft. Check out what was used to create the leaves! My kids LOVED this!

The watery pulp is so fun to play with.  My kids described it as reaching into a squishy, spongy, mushy, cold material that totally rocks!  Ha!  They played in the pulp for quite a while, before we started to create our Fall Trees.

Fall Centerpiece Craft for Kids ~ Simple craft and sensory experience rolled into one. This is not your traditional tissue paper craft. Check out what was used to create the leaves! My kids LOVED this!

The kids collected tree branches and wood chips from our back yard and arranged them in a tin can (make sure your can does not have sharp edges).

Fall Centerpiece Craft for Kids ~ Simple craft and sensory experience rolled into one. This is not your traditional tissue paper craft. Check out what was used to create the leaves! My kids LOVED this!

Once the kids are ready to start creating, have them squish the wet paper pulp onto the branches.  This will create the look of brightly colored fall leaves.  How simple is that!  The paper will dry and have a wonderful texture.

Just to be clear, we are simply adding the wet paper directly onto the branch.  We did not adding anything to the pulp/water mixture.  I love how beautiful and textural the paper pulp looks when it is dry.

Fall Centerpiece Craft for Kids ~ Simple craft and sensory experience rolled into one. This is not your traditional tissue paper craft. Check out what was used to create the leaves! My kids LOVED this!

The less planned the leaves are, the better it looks.  Just sit back and let the kids create:) Our little branches supported thick leaves, small leaves, chunky leaves, skinny leaves and each one looked great!

Fall Centerpiece Craft for Kids ~ Simple craft and sensory experience rolled into one. This is not your traditional tissue paper craft. Check out what was used to create the leaves! My kids LOVED this!

Once the kids have deemed their branch finished, set it in the sun to dry.  Depending on how thick the pulp is, will depend on drying time.  Ours were completely dry by morning.

Fall Centerpiece Craft for Kids ~ Simple craft and sensory experience rolled into one. This is not your traditional tissue paper craft. Check out what was used to create the leaves! My kids LOVED this!

 

I can’t believe how beautiful our little Fall branches turned out!  They will make the perfect Thanksgiving centerpiece.

 

The dried paper pulp is stunning and the kids were so proud of their creations!  I think we may need to make a larger version for my front entry.

Fall Centerpiece Craft for Kids ~ Simple craft and sensory experience rolled into one. This is not your traditional tissue paper craft. Check out what was used to create the leaves! My kids LOVED this!

Just remember that we did not add anything to the paper, just water.  The dried pulp with turn back into a squishy pulp if it get wet.  You could coat your trees with a spray varnish if you are worried about them getting damaged with water.  This is an inside decoration for sure;)

Fall Centerpiece Craft for Kids ~ Simple craft and sensory experience rolled into one. This is not your traditional tissue paper craft. Check out what was used to create the leaves! My kids LOVED this!

This beautiful project ended up being totally free!

  • Paper ~ My kids are always cutting and creating, so we started a little scrap paper bin.  It a bin where we collect all the little bits of paper that would normally end up in the recycle “just in case” we need them.  I love that we were able to find all the colors we needed.
  • The branches and wood chips were found in our backyard
  • Tin cans ~ recycle bin
  • Burlap ~ We love creating with coffee bags.  I get them for free from my local coffee shop.  One of my favorite crafting secrets:)

Fall Centerpiece Craft for Kids ~ Simple craft and sensory experience rolled into one. This is not your traditional tissue paper craft. Check out what was used to create the leaves! My kids LOVED this!

For more fun inspiration follow my Art and Play Recipe board on Pinterest.

Be sure and visit these other fantastic sites to see their Nature play, and come back each day this week for more fall recipes for play!

 Kid-Made Fall Nature Wreath from Fun at Home with Kids

 Fall Sensory Jars from Blog Me Mom

Sparkly Clean Mud Recipe from Learn Play Imagine

Related posts:

  1. Winter Sensory Bin
  2. Fall leaf Craft for Kids
  3. Kids Handprint Fall Tree Craft
  4. Erupting Fall Playdough
Posted in Take joy in Fall and tagged Burlap, Kid Projects, Paper Pulp, Play Recipe, sensory, Take joy in Fall, Tree Craft.

Welcome to Housing A Forest!
I would love for you to grab a cup of coffee and stay a while. You can read more about us or catch up on our favorite experiments, projects + art activities.

Related posts:

  1. Winter Sensory Bin
  2. Fall leaf Craft for Kids
  3. Kids Handprint Fall Tree Craft
  4. Erupting Fall Playdough
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10 thoughts on “Fall Centerpiece Craft for Kids”

  1. zalyndia powell on September 6, 2013 at 11:42 am said:

    cute idea!!! Where did you get your acorns?

    Reply ↓
    • Tammy on September 6, 2013 at 9:41 pm said:

      I bought them at a quaint little second hand shop and LOVE them! They might be one of my favorite fall decorations:)

      Reply ↓
  2. Stephanie @ Twodaloo on September 6, 2013 at 10:04 pm said:

    This. Is. AWESOME. We are totally doing this. My kids would love it!

    Reply ↓
  3. Jessica @ Play Trains! on September 8, 2013 at 5:22 am said:

    This “tree” is really, really beautiful — simple yet stunning. I love it!

    Reply ↓
  4. JDaniel4's Mom on September 8, 2013 at 11:03 am said:

    My guy loves mushy crafts. This is right up his alley.

    Reply ↓
  5. Rachel@ I Heart Crafty Things on September 8, 2013 at 6:58 pm said:

    I am seriously IN LOVE with this craft!! What a spectacular idea!!

    Reply ↓
  6. Gina @connectingfamilyandseoul on September 18, 2013 at 7:25 am said:

    Love this idea! We’ll be making this, for sure!

    Reply ↓
  7. AmyJo on October 20, 2013 at 2:55 pm said:

    Could the pulp be made a day or two ahead of time and kept in Tupperware?

    Reply ↓
  8. Libby on November 9, 2013 at 10:09 pm said:

    This is such a sweet, upcycled craft! I love it so much that I’m featuring it on my FB page tomorrow (sunday)! Thanks!
    -Libby

    Reply ↓
  9. Lisa on November 16, 2013 at 8:53 am said:

    Were the paper scraps construction paper, or regular colored paper (like printer paper)?

    Reply ↓

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