In short
Nature crafts for a wet afternoon: a store of dried leaves, a few simple projects and one longer woven bowl to keep children busy when you cannot get outside.
The best rainy day crafts are the ones you can start in five minutes with what is already in the house. The secret is a leaf box: a shoebox of pressed and dried leaves collected on dry days, kept on a shelf so a wet afternoon never begins with a hunt.
These projects use that box plus basic craft supplies. There is one short warm-up, a handful of quick ideas and one longer woven bowl that can absorb a whole afternoon when the rain settles in.
Adult supervision is required for all these crafts. An adult should handle scissors, needles and hot glue, and cut any strips for children under eight. Check stored leaves for mould or damp before use, keep leaves away from mouths, and wash hands after crafting.
Build a leaf box first
- Collect leaves on dry days and press them flat between sheets of newspaper under a heavy book for two days.
- Store them in a shoebox sorted by colour: green, gold, red and brown.
- Add a small bag of twine, a glue stick and a few sheets of card to the same box.
- Keep the box on a low shelf so children can reach it themselves on a wet morning.
- Replace the leaves each autumn so the box never runs dry.
The ten-minute warm-up
Quick leaf sorting game
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1
Tip out the box
Empty the pressed leaves onto a cloth and ask children to sort them into colour families. This takes about five minutes and settles everyone at the table.
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2
Count and compare
Ask each child to find the largest and smallest leaf in their pile and lay them side by side, then count how many of each colour they have.
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3
Choose a project
Let each child pick three favourite leaves to use in the next craft. Choosing their own materials keeps them engaged far longer.
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4
Clear a space
Push the sorted leaves to one side and set out the glue, card and twine so the main project can begin without another interruption.
The longer project: a woven leaf bowl
When the rain is set in for the afternoon, a small woven bowl is the project to reach for. It uses fresh palm strips rather than dried leaves, takes about forty minutes, and gives children a real object at the end. A bowl about 10 cm across is a good size for small hands, and it will hold hair clips, acorns or a handful of crayons.
Weaving a small bowl
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1
Prepare the strips
An adult cuts eight palm strips 1 cm wide and 30 cm long, then soaks them for five minutes so they bend without cracking.
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2
Make the cross
Lay four strips in a star shape and weave the other four through the centre in an over-under pattern until the base is a firm 5 cm circle.
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3
Turn up the sides
Bend every strip upward at the edge of the base and weave them around in a circle, keeping the tension even as the sides rise.
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4
Build the walls
Weave for about 5 cm of height, adding a new strip whenever one runs short by tucking it in beside the old one.
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5
Fold the rim and dry
Fold the final row over the one below and tuck each end inside. Let the bowl dry for an hour, and it will hold its shape on its own.
Keeping a wet day calm
A rainy afternoon goes better when the crafts have clear ends. A warm-up that finishes in ten minutes, one main project, and a tidy-up song works better than a long list of ideas that never quite finish. If a child loses interest in the bowl, the sorted leaf box is still there, and a leaf collage takes five minutes to set up again.
Helpful Tips
- Check stored leaves for damp before use; a mouldy leaf should go straight in the bin.
- Keep a damp cloth and a dry cloth on the table for sticky fingers.
- Lay finished pieces on a tray to dry out of reach of younger siblings.
- If the sun comes out, take the box into the garden and collect fresh leaves together.
A kit for the next wet afternoon
Our rainy day leaf kit includes pre-cut palm strips, pressed leaves and a card of ten projects.
