Kids Craft - Fall Leaf Placemats

Making placemats from fall leaves is a fun activity for kids of
all ages. Even toddlers will have fun collecting leaves and
creating their own placemat. For this craft you will need:

Roll of contact paper

Fall leaves

Scissors

This activity is very inexpensive. The only item you will have
to buy is the contact paper, and you can pick this up for about
$5 a roll. One roll will make many placemats.

Have your kids go out in the yard and collect some fall leaves.
Have them look for a variety of colors and shapes. If the leaves
are dry you can use them right away. If they are wet, let them
set on a piece of newspaper to dry before you start the craft
project.

Before you sit the kids down cut some pieces of contact paper
into the shape of placemats. I used the width of the contact
paper for the width of the placemat so I would only have to make
one cut for each placemat. You will need two pieces of contact
paper for each placemat. You can make the placemats any size you
choose.

After the contact paper is ready, sit your kids down at a table
and have them spread out the leaves in the center of the table.
Give them a piece of contact paper with the backing paper
removed. Let them arrange their leaves on the sticky side of the
paper. After they are happy with the arrangement of their
leaves, take another piece of contact paper and carefully lay it
on top of the leaves so that the sticky sides of both pieces of
contact paper are together. Carefully use your hands to smooth
out any bubbles or wrinkles. You won't be able to get them all
out, but don't worry, a few wrinkles will not be noticeable when
you are done.

When you are finished you can use the scissors to trim around the
edges to make sure they are all even and straight. This is an
easy project that can be completed in about an hour. Remember
the younger the child, the shorter their attention span, so if
you are making very many you may end up finishing them yourself!
My toddler boys spent about 15 minutes on theirs and they had a
great time.

Don't forget to proudly display your fall leaf placemats on your
Thanksgiving table!

Photos of fall leaf placemat project:
http://www.crafty-moms.com/fall-leaf-placemat.shtml