These fall leaf suncatchers have been one of our favorite crafts this fall, and one of the easiest! They look beautiful hanging on our front door and bring a little extra autumn color and joy every time we see them.
We've been stuffing our pockets with the most beautiful leaves we find while playing outside, so I figured it was time to bring some of those fall colors inside. After we made our fall leaf bookmarks with our leaves we had collected we decided to create these suncatchers too! With our free printable leaf templates this craft is really easy to set up and perfect for a fun fall activity!
Quick Look: Fall Leaf Suncatchers
- ⏱ Prep Time: 5 minutes
- 🧩 Age Range: Toddlers on up
- 👌 Difficulty: Easy and kid-friendly!
- 🎨 Supplies: Tissue paper, contact paper, construction paper + printable template
- 🏫 Great for: Home, preschool, and classroom
- 🌞 Play Skills: Fine motor, sensory, hand strength
- 💡 Why You'll Love It: This fall leaf suncatcher is perfect for fall play, it is easy to prep and great for kids of all ages.
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Why We Love This Fall Craft
This easy leaf suncatcher craft is a great fall activity for kids of different ages. My 3 and 4-year-old enjoyed cutting the tissue paper and sprinkling it onto their leaves, while an older child might enjoy creating a more intentional pattern with the different colors. We have also enjoyed making leaf rubbings and made pumpkin pie playdough, both of which are also awesome fine motor activities for kids!
There isn't much prep involved, which is one of the reasons I love this craft for fall. Older children can cut out their own leaf outlines, while younger children will need some help getting their leaf shape ready and can then take over with the tissue paper.
It's a simple project that works just as well at home as it does in a preschool classroom.
Tips For Making Your Fall Leaf Suncatcher
- Let kids choose how they want to create their leaf. Younger kids can simply sprinkle or layer tissue paper, while older kids may enjoy making patterns or mixing colors.
- Pre-cut tissue paper for younger children. This makes the activity even easier for preschoolers, while still giving them the opportunity to work on fine motor skills as they place the pieces.
- Don't cut the leaf border completely at the beginning. Leaving the construction paper leaf intact until both layers of contact paper are attached, this makes the final cutting much easier.
- Use lots of color! Overlapping different colors of tissue paper creates new colors when the sunlight shines through.
- Hang your suncatcher somewhere you will see it. A sunny window, glass door, or even a classroom window is perfect for letting those fall colors shine.
As kids layer different colors of tissue paper, encourage them to notice what happens when the colors overlap. What happens when you put yellow over blue? What about red and yellow? Hold the finished suncatcher up to the light and see how the colors change when the sunlight shines through.
Materials
- Printed leaf templates- linked towards the bottom of this post
- Kite paper or tissue paper
- Clear contact paper
- Scissors
- Construction paper or cardboard
How To Make Your Fall Leaf Suncatcher
Step 1: Begin by printing out the free leaf template linked at the bottom of this post, cut out the leaf shape and trace it onto your construction paper.
Step 2: Cut out the inside of your leaf shape.
Step 3: Place a piece of contact paper onto the back of your construction paper leaving the sticky side up. Place your tissue paper onto the contact paper in whatever design you would like! Once you have your tissue paper arranged how you like, place another layer of contact paper on top to seal your sun catcher.
Step 4: Cut out the border of your leaf (It's much easier to wait to cut it out completely until both layers of contact paper have been placed, otherwise cutting the contact paper can get a little tricky)
Free Printable Fall Leaf Suncatcher
You just need to complete the information in the box above and the leaf template for this craft will be sent to your inbox. There will be a link within the email so you can download the PDF and print as you would like. If you don't recieve the email be sure to check your spam and junk folders, sometimes the email can take up to 15 minutes to get to you.
This template is for classroom and personal use only.
Fall Leaf Suncatcher FAQs
Absoultely! We have made many suncatchers with nature elements like this sun suncatcher and this pumpkin suncatcher.
Yes, pre-cut squares are a great option if you're making this craft with a classroom or a group of younger children. Cutting the tissue paper yourself also makes the activity a little quicker to set up.
A sunny window or glass door is ideal. The sunlight shining through the tissue paper is what gives the suncatcher its beautiful fall colors.
Other Fun Fall Activities For Kids
If you tried this fall leaf suncatcher or any other craft on our blog please leave a 🌟 star rating and let us know how it went in the 📝 comments below. We appreciate it and love hearing from you!
Fall Leaf Suncatchers
A simple and fun fall craft for kids that brings the beautiful fall colors inside!
Materials
- Printed Leaf Template
- Kite paper or tissue paper
- Clear Contact paper
- Scissors
- Construction paper or cardboard
Instructions
- Print out leaf template
- Cut out leaf shape
- Trace the outline of your leaf onto construction paper.
- Cut out the inside of your leaf shape
- Place a piece of contact paper onto the back of your construction paper leaving the sticky side up.
- Place your tissue paper onto the sticky side of the contact paper in whatever pattern you like!
- Once your contact paper is covered in tissue paper, layer another piece of contact paper on top to seal your suncatcher.
- Finish cutting out your leaf leaving about a one inch border.
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Such a cute craft! Sharing to Facebook!
Thank you Katie! We are so glad you like it 🙂
I can’t wait to do this with my 2 yr old!
What did you use to color in the leaf’s outline? Brown permanent marker?
Oh I hope you two have fun! I traced the leaf outlines on different colors of construction paper to get the different colors. We'd love to see your finished suncatchers! Feel free to tag us on instagram @foxfarmhome! 🙂