10 Fun Activities using Autumn Leaves
by Chris Kullstroem
[originally from HalloweenMagazine.com]

One of the greatest aspects of autumn is seeing the leaves change. Walking through the woods among the yellow, red and orange all around us, running through the big piles of crisp leaves in the park and collecting the different colors and types of leaves makes this time of year priceless. If you like to craft, you probably already know that autumn leaves can be used for making fall and Halloween crafts. For some fun new ideas, check out the ideas below for activities using autumn leaves.

1. Press them inside a thick book for a few days and then place them inside Halloween cards or invitations that you send out. You can also use the leaves for making the cards, pasting them to the cover or making a border of tiny leaves around it.

2. Frame an autumn or Halloween pictures of the family, placing pressed autumn leaves as a border around the picture. Use a red or orange mat for the border and use rubber cement for gluing the leaves to the mat. Choose a frame that highlights some of the colors of the leaves.

3. Collect bags of autumn leaves to use for stuffing scarecrows and dummies. This is a particularly useful way of using leaves if you have piles and piles of them in your yard! For ideas on making a Scarecrow show, look for the article on the articles page.

4. Use another bag or two of leaves for scattering around your Halloween display. Scatter the leaves in your haunted graveyard, around your pumpkin patch or on your front porch. Wait until Halloween night to do this so that the leaves won’t all blow away!

5. Make a centerpiece out of your leaves. In a large glass bowl, place bright autumn leaves, small orange and white mini pumpkins and autumn-scented pot-pourri for a fresh autumn look and smell for your living room or kitchen. You can also bring the display to the office or make the centerpiece for a gift.

6. Fill plastic pumpkins and cauldrons with the leaves for your Halloween display. Leaves can be an ingredient in witch’s brew for your witch display, or have your scarecrows carry plastic pumpkins filled with autumn leaves.

7. Make strands of autumn leaves for outdoor garland on the front porch. Twist them around your pumpkins on the railing, or put the strands around the door and windows to highlight your window display or glowing jack-o-lanterns inside.

8. If you’re throwing a Pirate’s Halloween party for your child this year, use colorful autumn leaves to scatter around the clues throughout the treasure hunt, and to help conceal the treasure chest.

9. Place some colorful leaves in a wicker basket to make a gift for a friend. Also include in the basket Halloween treats, such as wrapped pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies or a jar of Halloween M&M;’s or Reece Piece’s.

10. Autumn leaves are perfect for making a collage. Use colorful construction paper, pictures of family and friends, autumn leaves, rubber cement, markers and Halloween stickers to make a collage of all your autumn adventures. This is a fun craft to work on with your kids, or with a group of friends. With so many fun activities using autumn leaves, walking through the bright and colorful woods becomes even better! Bring a few baskets on your foliage walks and start collecting those autumn leaves for all your decorations and crafts this season!