When my boys were young, we did all the paint, glue, scissors types of crafts to inspire our learning time. How I miss those table-strewing days, piles of pictures to hang on the bulletin board, and even the bits and snips of paper and tape that I had to clean up. Even though my boys are now fully in the tween and teen years, though, they still enjoy getting hands-on with making projects.
For teens, the key to making a hands-on learning project enjoyable, is to talk about and share an intention or purpose behind the project. More so than young children, teens want to know the “why” of the project before they become invested.
Fall Crafts for Teens
Fall is a great time to enter into purposeful falls art activities for teens in your home! Here’s a few ways we’ve enjoyed crafting as we ready the house for fall.
Fall Garland Decor with Chalk Pastel
Fall is one of my favorite seasons for crafts because it’s a season with so much color, and many, many nature finds to craft with!
We looked through the Fall Clubhouse lessons on ChalkPastel.com to find simple fall motifs to paint. The boys spent a happy hour painting leaves, pumpkins, acorns, and apples.
Since our intention was to create a fall garland to decorate our homeschool room, I had them minimize the paintings to about one-quarter of the paper.
TIP: Although we usually use construction paper for our chalk pastel artwork, this time I gave the boys paper specifically for pastels. This paper has a bit of thickness and texture to it that gave the paintings a beautiful effect! So, try using different papers when you paint with chalk for fresh looks!
After we were done with these lessons, we cut out the shapes, and hung them from a twine string with clothespins. Each of my boys has a row of artwork decorating our walls all fall!
This fall garland turned out beautiful (to this mama’s eyes!), and will give us months of joy to look at.
Fall Leaf Collage Prints
I wanted the boys to express their vision of the changing colors in fall, so we hopped over to the Nature Study Homeschool site to find some craft ideas.
We decided to make an easy fall leaf print collage. The boys went outside to pick a handful of leaves. We observed the variety of shapes and sizes in our yard. An extension of this craft activity would be to visit a local park and find other types of trees and leaves to study. You can teach your kids the names of different leaf shapes.
After we had collected a variety of leaves, I let them go to town with stamp ink pads and a blank paper. The boys loved pressing leaves into the ink and then “stamping” their papers. Be sure to use the back of the leaf for best effect, as the front can be too smooth.
We marveled at the intricate veins in each leaf. The boys loved picking different colors to showcase the beautiful fall foliage we enjoy here in New England. From rust reds to golden yellow, we get to enjoy the real foliage where we live, but not for long! These leaf print pictures will keep our house cheerful all season long.
I’m hoping to start the boys in acrylic paints this fall, so Nana’s fall tree reflection acrylics lesson is on our list! (Did you know Chalk Pastel also offers acrylics lessons! Teens may love shifting to a new medium!
Even more fall art activities for teens
From working with found nature treasures to painting with leaves like we did, fall craft ideas can run the gamut from simple to complex.
Nature leaf masks are clever and whimsical, and maybe they will inspire a bit of play-acting.
A pumpkin pixie house would be a refreshing alternative to the ubiquitous Jack-O-Lantern!
Of course, the simplest way to enjoy fall crafts without too many supplies is by keeping an autumn nature journal of all the changes and details your kids see around them.
Teens can often get absorbed into their social lives, gaming, and other interests that make nature take a back seat. So if you can, encourage them to spend a little time in nature with a small notebook and pencil in hand, and remember they still have a lot of childhood left to enjoy!
Fall Art Lessons for Teens
There are even more fall art lessons at ChalkPastel.com than I can shake a leafy stick at.
Fall Food Art
Teens do love to eat, so let them join you in the kitchen for delicious fall foods. Then pair that with an art session! You can paint apples and apple pies (and make one, with Nana’s recipe!). Paint and make Caramel Apples, roasted marshmallows, or pumpkin pie.
Fall Sports Art
Engage your sports lovers by painting a football and talking about or watching some fall sports.
Fall History and Literature Art
It’s a great season to read about historical figures like Johnny Appleseed, or fictional characters like Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin.
Fine Arts for High School
Because this is all about our teens, don’t forget that ChalkPastel.com has a wonderful fine arts curriculum for high school. Immerse your student in art education and music appreciation that is integrated with history and hands-on learning. The lesson plans in the Fine Arts program has credit trackers so you can put this on their transcript.
More Fall Activities Teens will Love!
I can never get enough of fall! chalkpastel.com has enough fall to satisfy every interest and homeschool education need! Because fall is synonymous with back-to-school time, think about how many themes and unit studies you can add art to!
I recommend you download the Fall Bucket List Printable and do some fall-themed art before or after having fun on a hayride or apple picking!
We’ve enjoyed adding art to our studies of Ancient, Medieval, and American History.
We seem to always be studying Human Anatomy with one of my boys or the other, and Nana has created a beautifully rich series on this topic.
When it comes to Geography, chalk pastel video art lessons help your teen become a cartographer in vivid color!
Don’t forget about fall holidays and observances, like Veteran’s Day – we thoroughly enjoyed all the art lessons to celebrate and honor our military.
What I love about art for teens is that it brings back a sense of wonder and adventure to their learning. So much of their high school years become heavier and more serious. But with chalk in hand, and Nana’s delightful encouragement, teens are free to be playful and experiment with their artistic expression.
The endless colors of a set of chalk pastels and a simple stack of paper give you an easy doorway into a beautiful year of learning together with your teen.
Julie is a teacher, writer and homeschool mom. Her blog Happy Strong Home shares encouragement for cherishing children, enjoying motherhood, and growing strong families. Discover homeschool resources, natural living tips, and family activity ideas. Julie has been featured on Million Praying Moms, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, and the Melissa and Doug blog. She offers writing workshops and a “homeschool neighborhood” community to support parents in their homeschool adventures. Find Julie on Instagram to be the first to know when new workshops and community events are available.