fall arts and crafts tray

Fall Crafts and Fine Motor Activities for Little Learners

Happy Fall, y’all! One thing we LOVE to do each season is switch up our craft trays! These trays are our go-to activities for afternoons, weekends, rainy days, and especially times when this Momma needs to get a little extra work in. I hope these ideas for Fall crafts and fine motor activities are super helpful for you, too!


fall arts and crafts tray
Fall Arts and Crafts Tray

Arts and crafts trays are a BLAST to set up and enjoy! For these trays, I don’t even purchase anything new if I don’t have to. The best part of this tray is that it simply showcases our current craft supplies, but in Fall colors! It’s a easy way to take overlooked craft supplies and turn them into something “brand new” without any extra spending!

Some of our favorite craft supplies for our craft tray are glitter pens, KwikStix, glitter paint tubes, washable paints, stickers, crayons, markers, colored pencils, and MORE! Just dig through your craft supplies and see what you can bring to life again!


fall pumpkin painting
Pumpkin Painting

Pumpkin painting, anyone??? If you want to keep pumpkins around the house for more than 2 seconds (thanks a lot, rotting Jack-o-lanterns…), you’ve GOT to try painting mini pumpkins!! These KwikStix tempera paint sticks are perfect for low-mess painting and show up so well! We grab a bag of mini pumpkins at the grocery story and paint a couple each week all season long. It never gets old!


fall sensory bins
Fall Sensory Bins

At The Stay-at-Home Teacher, we make a sensory bin for EVERY theme! So of course we have to bust out tons of sensory bins for Fall! We use them during our school time, as extra fine motor fun, and definitely during our dramatic play time! You can read about some of our very favorite Fall sensory bins using the button below!


fall play dough tray
Fall Play Dough Tray

So, it took me a while to come around to homemade play dough. Purchasing play dough in all sorts of colors is so convenient, and we honestly still buy plenty. But Y’ALL. Nothing beats the satisfaction of soft, homemade play dough. And this recipe from Mother Could is the absolute BEST and simplest one I’ve tried! Now I absolutely love making homemade play dough for our play dough trays, and LG will spend HOURS playing with it!

For this Fall play dough tray, I used the play dough recipe found using the button below. Then to the tray I added pipe cleaners, Fall cookie cutters, Fall table scatter, and these precious little sunflower and pumpkin toppers. LG loves making all sorts of treats from cupcakes and cookies. And we love using this tray to practice reviewing the different parts of the pumpkin life cycle!

pumpkin life cycle button

fall wreath craft
Fall Patterns Wreath

A few years back, my friend Jayme at TeachTalkInspire shared this Fall leaf wreath idea and we have loved it ever since! It’s so easy for littles, but can be modified to practice so many skills like patterns, addition, color sorting, name building, etc. Be sure to head to her IG feed to check it out!


pumpkin washing
Pumpkin Washing

Does anyone else’s kid loving washing things?! Give LG a water bin filled with soapy bubbles and she’ll wash anything! When we first started our tradition of painting mini pumpkins, I gave her this task to make sure all the pumpkins were clean so the paint would stick. Little did I know it would turn into such a HUGE hit!


fall nature sensory bin
Fall Nature Sensory Bin

If you live in the South like us, you’re probably looking for ALL the ways to enjoy the Fall weather when it finally arrives. One of our favorite outdoor Fall activities is creating a nature sensory bin! We have so much fun gathering supplies, and it’s always so fun to see what materials and treasures LG chooses to add to her bin. Let your little ones explore the beautiful weather, then bring the bin inside and enjoy some hot coffee while they study their new treasures!


Fall Bucket List

Looking for other ways to get outside this Fall? You’ll want to make sure you grab this FREE Fall bucket list! This resource has tons of ways you can put all our Fall crafts and fine motor activities into action! As an e-mail subscriber, you’ll find this printable in our FREE Resource Library using the password you receive at sign-up. Not a part of our e-mail community yet? Sign up now using the button below!


fall tear art crafts
Fall Tear Art Crafts

Need a little more FREE fun? Be sure to grab these FREE tear art printables while you’re in our FREE Resource Library! Your little ones will get tons of important fine motor skills practice while decorating their Fall treats and practicing beginning sounds!


Let’s hang out!

Well, friends… Are you in the Fall spirit yet?? I hope all of these ideas for Fall crafts and fine motor activities help your family enjoy all sorts of Fall fun! I’d love to chat and get to know you better! Come hang out with us in some of our favorite places!

fall crafts and fine motor activities pin
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