Fall Leaf Hair Craft for Kids
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Give your printable portrait the wildest fall hairstyle you can imagine with this Fall Leaf Hair Craft for Kids – Printable Autumn Nature Art Activity! This creative fall project combines a simple child portrait coloring page with real autumn leaves to create colorful, crazy, and completely unique hair. Kids can color the face, head outside to collect their favorite leaves, and then arrange their fall treasures into a hairstyle unlike any other.
One of the best parts about this fall nature craft for kids is that the activity starts outside. Take a walk around the backyard, neighborhood, park, or school playground and hunt for leaves in all different shapes, sizes, and colors. Look for bright yellow leaves, fiery oranges, deep reds, warm browns, and even a few that are still green. Long leaves can become spiky hair, tiny leaves can make curls, and big maple leaves can create one seriously dramatic hairstyle!
Before you start crafting, take a minute to prepare your leaves. Choose leaves that are still flexible rather than completely dry and crunchy, since brittle leaves can crack or crumble as kids work with them. Gently wipe away any dirt or debris and flatten any leaves that have started to curl. You can use freshly collected leaves for the activity, or preserve your fall leaves first if you’d like the finished artwork to last longer.
Start by grabbing crayons, markers, or colored pencils and coloring the printable child portrait. Kids can choose their own skin tone, eye color, clothing colors, and other details—but don’t worry about the hair because nature is taking care of that part! This is a wonderful opportunity to encourage kids to make their portrait completely their own before adding the leaves.
Then comes the best part: creating the fall leaf hair! Arrange leaves around the top and sides of the child’s head, experimenting with different combinations before gluing anything down. Make long flowing hair, a giant leafy afro, spiky hair sticking in every direction, silly pigtails, or an enormous hairstyle that practically fills the page. Layer and overlap the leaves to add even more texture and dimension. There really are no rules—the crazier the hair, the more fun this project becomes!
This printable fall craft for kids is a great activity for preschoolers, elementary-aged children, classrooms, homeschool nature studies, fall parties, or a creative afternoon at home. Collecting leaves gets kids outside and encourages them to notice the colors and textures of the changing season. Back at the craft table, coloring, cutting, arranging, and gluing help strengthen fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, scissor skills, and creative thinking.
Squirrel 
Lion 
Fairy 
Hedgehog 
Campfire 
Turkey
And if you come home with more leaves than you need, that just means it’s time for another craft! Turn them into a giant fluffy tail with the Fall Leaf Squirrel Craft, magical wings with the Fall Leaf Fairies, a magnificent mane with the Fall Leaf Lion, wild witch hair with the Fall Leaf Witch, or flickering flames with the Fall Leaf Campfire Craft. Each project uses real leaves in a completely different way, making it fun to see just how many things kids can create from one afternoon of leaf collecting.
So grab the printable portrait, pull on your shoes, and head outside for a fall leaf hunt! This Fall Leaf Hair Craft for Kids is a simple way to combine nature, art, and plenty of imagination into one colorful autumn activity. Whether your child creates beautiful flowing locks or the biggest, silliest leaf hairstyle imaginable, their finished portrait will be completely one of a kind—because just like kids, no two fall leaves are exactly the same!
Fall Leaf Hair Craft for Kids – Printable Autumn Nature Art Activity
Before making your Fall Leaf Hair Craft, you may want to preserve the leaves so they stay colorful and beautiful for longer. Learn several easy ways to prepare and preserve fall leaves in our guide, How to Preserve Fall Leaves for Crafts, then use them to create a colorful and completely unique autumn hairstyle!
Step 1: Print the Fall Leaf Hair Templates
Print the boy and girl Fall Leaf Hair templates on 8.5 x 11-inch sheets of white cardstock. Kids can choose their favorite portrait or create both! Cardstock provides a sturdy base and helps support the real fall leaves you’ll add to create each child’s colorful autumn hairstyle.
Step 2: Color the Portrait
Before adding the leaves, use crayons, markers, or colored pencils to color the boy or girl portrait. Kids can choose natural skin tones and fall colors or use any bright and imaginative color combination they like. Encourage them to add patterns, shading, rosy cheeks, freckles, or other creative details that make their portrait completely unique!
Step 4: Glue on the Fall Leaf Hair
Arrange the fall leaves around the top and sides of the portrait to create a fun autumn hairstyle. Try different types, shapes, sizes, and colors of leaves to see what looks best. Layer long leaves to make flowing hair, use small leaves for short or spiky hair, or arrange them into pigtails, braids, curls, or a fancy updo.
Once you are happy with the hairstyle, glue each leaf in place, slightly overlapping the leaves to make the hair look full. Set the portrait aside and allow the glue to dry completely. Every Fall Leaf Hair Craft will look wonderfully unique because no two leaves—or hairstyles—are exactly alike!
How Do I Download the Fall Leaf Hair Templates?
Click the button below to sign up for a free Artsy Kids Zone membership. After creating your account and signing in, return to this page and click the same button again. You’ll be taken to the Fall Downloads page, where you can access the Fall Leaf Hair Templates.
Download the black and white PDF, print it on white cardstock, and start crafting! Kids can color and cut out the squirrel before adding real fall leaves to create its large, colorful tail.
***These printables are intended for personal and school use exclusively. Unauthorized copying, uploading, republishing, distributing or alteration of these files in any manner is strictly prohibited. If you plan to showcase these printables, please ensure to include a link back to artsykidszone.com.
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If you enjoyed making this Fall Leaf Squirrel Craft, you’ll definitely love exploring the other creative projects on Artsy Kids Zone! Step into a little magic with the 3D Paper Fairy Dolls, create prehistoric adventures with the Dinosaur Finger Puppets, or fill your playroom with a fresh citrus scent by making Orange Scented Playdough. With printable puppets, paper crafts, sensory activities, coloring projects, and so much more, there’s always something new for kids to create and enjoy!
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