Make enchantingly expressive leaf puppets with paper scraps and nature supplies for creative fall play!
Our yard is chock-a-block full of vibrant yellow maple, elm, and ash leaves, and our art table is awash in autumn-inspired leaf projects (have you seen our autumn-leaf-inspired magic wands or leaf-matching game yet??).
The other thing we happen to have in spades this year is sticks. For the first time ever, my new yard is filled with COLOSSAL old trees – so along with the fall leaves, it’s a near-constant rain of twigs.
Fall weekends are the perfect time for a rummage through the ‘ol leaf pile to see what might be hiding at the bottom. After gathering up a collection of sticks, bark, and leaves, we started playing and ended up with this expressive trio.
Made into stick puppets (with a little help from the new BIG leaf templates in our free printable leaf activity kit), we’re almost starting to regret bringing them to life, as they haven’t stopped re-enacting how close they came to being buried alive under a foot of October snow. Quite unbe-leaf-able, really (wink!).
Send the littles out for a nature collecting adventure while you print and cut out our free template (that’s it for prep!), then have a fall ball building fanciful faces on your leaf puppets together…
Love using nature supplies for crafts like this one? Check out our loose parts leaf play ideas and visit our quick guide to prepping and preserving natural materials for art and play projects.
For your own paper leaf puppets, you’ll need:
Note: We prefer to shop locally or use what we have at home, but this list contains Woodpeckers Crafts, Etsy, Blick Art Materials, Bookshop.org and/or Amazon affiliate links for reference. As affiliates (and Amazon Associates), we make a small commission on qualifying purchases.*
BASIC SUPPLIES:
- 1-3 sheets of heavy cardstock or watercolor paper
- Our free printable leaf activity kit
- Watercolors or other coloring supplies and a paintbrush
- Scissors
- A glue stick
- A low-temp glue gun or craft glue
- A stick (or popsicle stick)
FACE DECORATION:
- Leaves, twigs, acorns, or other natural supplies
- Paper scraps
- Other decorative supplies (cabochons, sea glass, googley eyes, etc.)
How to Make a Leaf Puppet – DIY Instructions:
Use our easy instructions and free paper leaf templates to make your own set of leaf puppets for fall play (no real fall leaves necessary!).
Print our free large leaf templates or draw your own leaves.
Download and print one (or two, or three!) of our full-page free printable leaf templates. Color and let dry if necessary.
We used watercolors to create pretty washed leaves in bright fall colors, but you can use tempera paints, crayons, oil pastels, coffee – anything you prefer!
Cut out your leaf templates and begin building faces.
Carefully cut out around your large leaves. Gather small nature finds, scrap paper, loose parts, and other craft supplies to begin creating faces on your leaves.
We used a glue stick to glue on twigs and bark for eyebrows, scrap paper eyes, stone cabochon pupils, mouths & noses cut from leaves. Play around with the placement and materials to make different expressions!
Use a glue gun to affix your leaf face to a stick.
Once you’re finished making your leaf faces, use a hot glue gun, craft glue, or strong tape to affix your leaves to the end of a stick.
This is the kind of project kiddos can easily lose themselves in – trying different combinations of supplies and building endless funny faces.
3 Ways to Play with Your Leaf Puppets
Note: We prefer to shop locally or use what we have at home, but this list contains Woodpeckers Crafts, Etsy, Blick Art Materials, Bookshop.org and/or Amazon affiliate links for reference. As affiliates (and Amazon Associates), we make a small commission on qualifying purchases.*
The best part of this craft is that the making of your art project is just the beginning. Once the puppets are complete, creative story-telling and imaginative play can begin…
1. Put on a fall puppet show.
Write a script, construct your own puppet theater, make tickets, and put on a spectacular show (just as autumn does every year!).
2. Explore emotions with your leaf puppets.
Our leaf puppets are all pretty cheery, but a turn of the bark eyebrows or stick mouths and they relay completely different emotions. Create a leaf puppet for all kinds of different moods that your kiddos can use to explore a wide range of emotions or convey how they’re feeling.
Instead of gluing on natural elements, you can use metal craft brads to affix paper features that your kids can twist, turn, and move to create a variety of expressions.
3. Act out a story from a leaf picture book.
Use your cast of leaf puppets to re-tell one of your favorite fall stories. Here are three of our favorite leaf picture books (featuring leaves with animated faces) that make perfect pairings with a leaf puppet craft…
Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert: This book uses vivid illustrations made from actual fall leaves to tell the whimsical tale of a leaf man who’s blown away by the wind and journeys wherever the wind may take him.
- How to incorporate our leaf puppet activity: After reading this book, students can cut out or collect autumn leaves and use them to create their own leaf man puppets, encouraging creativity while engaging with natural materials.
Leif and the Fall by Alison Sweet Grant and Adam Grant: This story follows a small, anxious leaf named Leif who’s afraid to fall from the tree, presenting a comforting narrative about facing fears and embracing change.
- How to incorporate our leaf puppet play: In line with the book’s theme, educators can help students create leaf puppets that illustrate Leif’s journey from the tree to the ground, incorporating discussions about emotions and resilience.
The Very Last Leaf by Stef Wade: This heartwarming tale chronicles the life of Lance, the best and bravest leaf on his tree who’s not ready to drop even when autumn arrives.
- How to incorporate our leaf puppets: Children can make their own Lance leaf puppet from paper or real leaves, adding moveable facial expressions to show different emotions as they role-play Lance’s journey and grapple with concepts of change and letting go.
More Fall Leaf Crafts and Activities
For another way to celebrate fall leaves with your littles, try making an incredibly simple (but stunning!) gradient leaf banner. Or try a unique art-making process with our photocopied fall leaf collages using a totally unique and unexpected process.
Itty-bitty autumn revelers might enjoy making mouse mail, practicing counting, sorting, and colors with six fall fine motor skill activity ideas, or this DIY super-soft four seasons felt tree.
More Nature Printables for Kids
Love this download? Try our nature explorer printable pack! Filled with pages of outdoor observation and exploration prompts, it’s perfect for hours of self-led nature learning and play.
*A note about affiliate links: We strive to use simple, earth-friendly supplies that can be purchased locally whenever we can, but sometimes we find the best universally available options, a rare eco-friendly find, or a niche product only available on Blick Art Materials, Amazon, Etsy, or Woodpeckers Crafts. When included in our supply list, these products are affiliate links, and if you click through to make a purchase we receive a small commission that helps us re-order these supplies!
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