Light shining through darkness is so fascinating for both kids and adults. Lately my kids (2y&4y) have been very interested in glow in the dark things. So, we have made several glow in the dark crafts, played with glow sticks, and played with light up toys. While thinking of a fun and simple fall craft we could do, I came up with these glowing leaf bowls. They look really neat all the time, but even more cool once the lights are off and the LED candles are on. They were very simple to make and both kids had a lot of fun.
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How to Make a Leaf Fall Craft
Materials:
- Construction paper, leaf punch out paper, or colored lightweight paper
- Flour
- Balloon
- Foam brush (optional)
- LED tea lights
Step 1- Cut the Fall Leaves:
First, cut out a whole bunch of leaf shapes from a thin paper. To do this you have several options:
- I used my Brothers Scan and Cut to cut three types of leaf shapes from this free SVG from Free SVG Designs. It didn’t work well with construction paper, but lightweight colored paper should work better.
- You can also trace the PNG from the same site onto construction paper and cut the leaves out with scissors.
- Or you can get this cool leaf paper and just punch the leaves out of it.
Step 2- Paper Mache:
Next, make and use your paper mache. I followed The Spruce Craft’s instructions and mixed 2 parts water to 1 part flour. Then, blow up a balloon and place it in a small cup or bowl to keep it from rolling. To keep your area clean, place a plastic tablecloth under your work area.
Now, start using the paper mache to paste your leaves to the balloon. Make sure that every leaf overlaps at least one other leaf. Neither of my kids like the feeling of paper mache, so I had them paint on the paper mache with a foam brush. They brushed it on the balloon, stuck a leaf on, and brushed over the leaf. Once they finished, I brushed over the whole thing again to make sure the pieces would stay together.
Then, let your bowl dry. I considered doing another coat to make it stronger, but I didn’t want to lighten my colors any more. It ended up being strong enough with just the single coat.
Step 3- Finishing Up:
Lastly, ease your bowl off the balloon. I was worried that if I popped the balloon, the whole thing would cave in. So, I slowly separated the balloon from our fall crafts with my finger instead. Eventually it popped off. Place a LED tea light in your autumn leaf bowl and enjoy your fun new centerpiece.
Conclusion of Our Fall Craft
I really liked how this fall craft turned out. I struggled to write this post because I have no idea what to call what we made. But, whatever they are, all three look really cool and my kids love them. After we made them, we ended up eating the last part of dinner in the dark because they were so excited to see the candles flickering in them.
They were also so easy to make. The most complicated part ended up being cutting out the leaves. The bowls are so fun that will probably reuse the concept in later crafts. How did your glowing leaf bowls turn out? What would you call them?
Looking for more fall crafts? Check these out. Did your kids love working with paper mache? Here are more paper mache crafts.
