TheCrafting with natural materialsAutumn is simply a part of this time of year. Children in particular have a lot of fun with it and can create a wide variety of things. While older children do very well, the younger ones find it a little more difficult. However, there are also great craft ideas for small children that you can try out together. There are also ideas for crafts with chestnuts for small children that use toothpicks. Since these can be dangerous, you should not leave children unattended when using these variants. Otherwise, be patient with the inexperienced little ones and help actively if necessary.
Crafts with chestnuts for toddlers - animals and figures
The classics when making chestnut crafts with children are probably theseFigures and chestnut animals. And if you're thinking that you've already done this last year and it's boring, we'd like to tell you that your children probably won't see it that way. You always have fun with it, but you should avoid figures that are too complicated. There are also so many different ideas for which you can use many other materials in addition to the chestnuts so that you can always create something new with chestnuts for small children. We'll prove it to you with the following ideas. So, what can you make from chestnuts?
With string
If you want to make chestnut men and animals with chestnuts for small children that are flexible and movable, it is best to use string to connect the chestnuts. You can make snakes or caterpillars, but also the simple and popular chestnut necklace. All you have to do is prepare the fruit by piercing holes. You can use a blunt darning needle to thread through. So make sure the holes are big enough.
You can then use the finished chain as a garland or make a necklace out of it (combine the chestnuts with beads, for example). The finished piece of jewelry is also ideal as a crown.
With toothpicks
Everyone knows themFigures with toothpicks. They are the perfect fasteners because they can also be easily broken or cut into the required size. If you use them for chestnut craft ideas for toddlers, be careful not to hurt the little ones. You should also pre-punch holes here so that the children can insert the toothpicks into the chestnut more easily. Alternatively, matches that are not so sharp are also suitable.
With pipe cleaners
That IPipe cleaners so beautifulThey can be bent into any shape and are also pretty to look at, making them the perfect material for adding details to your chestnut figures and animals: arms and legs, for example, or the petals of a flower.
For a spider like this, for example, make four holes on each side. Then paint the chestnut in the desired color. And it doesn't necessarily have to be black like in the example, because colored spiders also look cool. Then the small children can insert shortened pipe cleaners into the holes and bend the resulting legs as they wish. Googly eyes are very suitable as eyes, but you can also draw some. The finished spiders are perfect as decoration for Halloween. You can also make decorations with chestnuts for small children.
Chestnut crafts for toddlers with play dough
If you want to make crafts with chestnuts without drilling, play dough is a great option. You can also use plasticine to shape certain body or other parts and combine them with chestnuts. A snail, for example, is very popular to make in this way. First knead the snail body and then place the snail shell made from a chestnut on top.
Similar materials are also suitable for this purpose. If you want the figure to be more durable, use salt dough or craft clay, for example, which does not need to be baked as this would damage the chestnut. By the way, you can take out the snail shellsAlso paint chestnuts, which is also a great activity for small children.
For more ideas with modeling clay read:Ideas for modeling clay in autumn: jewelry, decorations & animals
Idea with mushrooms
No cutting, no gluing, no drilling - mushrooms like these are the ideal idea for small children to do crafts with chestnuts, because they are only made from play dough and chestnuts. First form a base onto which you press a chestnut. Then roll a small ball of playdough, flatten it and place this piece on top of the playdough. Attach another chestnut to this to represent the umbrella. If you want, you can make dots out of play dough and distribute them on the mushroom umbrella to create oneTo imitate fly agaric.
Caterpillar crafts with chestnuts for toddlers
We explained to you above that you can use a cordMaking caterpillarscan, but of course this is not the only option for caterpillars. If you don't really want the caterpillar to be mobile, you can simply hold the individual chestnuts together with play dough. To do this, form several balls of dough and press them flat. Place a chestnut in front of you, press playdough firmly and then the next chestnut. Alternate chestnuts and playdough until you reach the desired length. You can then make the head with plasticine or simply draw a face.
Funny snowman
Ideas for crafting with chestnuts for toddlers are not only available with an autumn theme. If you save a few chestnuts, you can use them later and, for example, bridge rainy or stormy winter days with crafts. They prepare everything for a snowman again and then just let the small children put everything together and glue it together. For the hat, form a ring out of a strip of paper. The buttons can be made of felt or paper or simply traced. You can get the carrot nose by simply wrapping orange paper around a piece of matchstick or toothpick and then pinching it towards the front.
Make paper hedgehogs with chestnuts
Are theseHedgehog not really cute? If you cut the elements out of cardboard in advance, even small children can glue them together with a little help and finally create the nose with a chestnut. A mouth and eyes can then be drawn with a felt-tip pen and the hedgehog is finished. Older children can also cut out the elements themselves. The hedgehogs look lovely as decoration on the fridge, but can also be framed without glass or decorate a greeting card.
Or how about this idea you're up forUse maple leaf? Cut out another semicircle out of paper and the little ones can start gluing. Add the final details such as eyes, mouth and a few more spines with a felt-tip pen. Complete!
Making mosaic pictures with chestnuts for small children
Should it be even easier? Then place all the chestnuts on a table or on the floor and let the children get creative by making random pictures with them and lining them up. How about a house, a sun, a cloud or other simple motifs? Depending on your age, you can also help here. For example, if you need a simpler alternative with chestnutsCrafts for 2 year oldsor even younger children, place a template next to it for the little ones to follow. If that is too difficult, you can simply design the chestnuts yourself on the template by placing them along the lines.
If you use cardboard, the children can then glue the chestnuts and give the picture as a gift or hang it up.
Painting marble pictures
Toddlers particularly enjoy working with colors. That's why you can use the remaining chestnuts after your craft afternoon for another creative idea for crafting with chestnuts for toddlers. You can paint with chestnuts. For like thata marble pictureall you need is:
- a tub
- sheet of paper
- Acrylic, finger paint or other craft paints
- Chestnuts
Place the sheet of paper in the tub and let the children spill colors on the paper. Then place a few chestnuts in it, then move the tray back and forth so that the chestnuts can roll through the colors and transfer them to the paper. The tub should not be too heavy, otherwise small children will not be able to hold and move it. If necessary, you can also use other containers when making these pictures with chestnuts for toddlers. Plastic meat packaging and paper plates are also suitable. Simply use smaller size paper (e.g. A5 or A6 instead of A4).
Simple crafts with chestnuts for toddlers
Toddlers are still at an age where they find pretty much everything interesting. That's why the crafting doesn't have to be anything fancy. So it can be enough if you just stick the wiggly eyes on the chestnuts. An unpeeled chestnut that is already slightly cracked can quickly turn into an eye if you simply paint on a pupil and iris. And the spines of the shell then imitate eyelashes.
Flower made from plasticine and natural materials
Make a flower and flower stems out of play dough and a chestnut and decorate them with additional natural materials such as leaves. Rolling the dough is great fun for even the little ones, so you'll have a great time together. You can then write on the finished cards with flowers and give them away.
Make chestnut figures from different materials
A few ideas for facescan be found here.
