Fall-Themed Paper Plate Crafts for Kids

These fall crafts for kids are simple and inexpensive to make and require only a paper plate as their base.

Jack-O-Lantern Plates

Give each child an orange paper plate (or let them paint a plate orange on a previous day) and a piece of yellow construction paper. Have them cut out triangles, circles, or squares for the eyes and nose of their Jack-O-Lantern and long half moon shape for the mouth. After students glue the faces onto their Jack-O-Lanterns, help them staple a strip of green construction paper so it forms a loop on top of the plate. Hang the Jack-O-Lanterns by their "stems" from the ceiling of your classroom.

Fall Leaf Wreath

Go on a fall leaf scavenger hunt with your kids and have them find leaves in all shapes and colors. You can also find small twigs, pinecones, and acorns for this project. Cut the center out of a sturdy paper plate. Let students glue their leaves, twigs, and other items around their plates to make a fall wreath.

Weave a Spider Web

Give each student a sturdy paper plate that you have cut slits all around at one inch intervals and tape a long piece of black yarn to the back. Invite the children to pass the yarn through the slits and weave it back and forth across their plates for webs. If you need to, tie on more yarn. When the web is complete, give each student a small plastic spider or a plastic spider ring to attach to the webs they created on their plates.

Paper plate spiders.

Use black paper plates or have children paint regular paper plates black. Give children large googly eyes and eight strips of black construction paper or eight black pipe cleaners for legs. Let them glue their eyes and legs onto the plates. Punch a hole into the plates and hang from the ceiling or attach the spiders to a giant web drawn onto a bulletin board.

Apple Art Plates

Give each student two paper plates and let them color the outside of each plate the color of their favorite apple. Give them a few apple seeds to glue to the center of the insides of the plates. Staple the two plates around the edges, leaving an opening at the top so students can "peek" at the seeds inside. Glue on construction paper stems and leaves to complete the apples.