Leaf It to Me!

A Fall Animal Stack Craft

Photo by Jamie Plain

Looking for a creative way to celebrate the beauty of autumn with your kids? This Leaf Animal Stack craft is the perfect project for a cozy fall afternoon. Using colorful leaves and a bit of imagination, your child can create a cheerful lineup of woodland animals—complete with googly eyes, quirky tails, and lots of personality!

Bonus? It gets you outside collecting supplies and brings a little nature indoors.

Supplies Needed:

›› A variety of leaves (different shapes, sizes, and colors)

›› White cardstock or thick paper

›› Black marker or pen

›› Googly eyes

›› Yellow and orange construction paper or cardstock (for beaks and accents)

›› Scissors

›› Glue stick or craft glue

›› Optional: Paint pens or markers for extra details

Instructions: Build Your Leaf Stack!

Step 1: Go on a leaf hunt!

Head outside and gather a handful of leaves—try to find a mix of sizes and colors. Flat, dry leaves work best, but slightly flexible ones are great for shaping.

Step 2: Choose your animal lineup.

In this example, you’ll make (from bottom to top):

›› A hedgehog

›› A green bird

›› A brown bird

›› A purple mouse

›› But feel free to mix it up! Any woodland critter is fair game.

Step 3: Start with your base animal.

›› Glue a large leaf near the bottom center of your page. This will become the hedgehog.

›› Use a brown marker to draw a face and body on the paper.

›› Glue the leaf over the body as its spiky back.

›› Add black marker “quills” and a googly eye.

Step 4: Build upward!

Stack each animal on top, gluing leaves as their bodies.

›› For the birds, use a green and a brown leaf and add a triangle beak cut from yellow paper.

›› For the mouse, glue a brownish leaf with a curved paper tail and tiny ears.

Step 5: Draw the legs and extras.

Use a black marker to connect each animal with fun little stick legs. Add whiskers, dots, feathers, or texture as you wish!

Step 6: Finish it off.

Add googly eyes to every animal and smiley faces if you’d like. Want a frame? Use fallen leaves to create a natural border around your artwork like in the example!

Why We Love It

This craft combines creativity, sensory play, and outdoor exploration. It’s perfect for developing fine motor skills, artistic expression, and seasonal appreciation. Plus, it’s totally fridge-worthy—or gift-worthy!

Whether you make one animal or a whole forest full, this craft is sure to be a fall favorite.