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Make · Wild and Tumble activity

Leafy garlands

One leaf, two leaves, a whole rainbow. Thread fallen leaves onto string to make a garland for your window or door.

  • 20 min total
  • Low mess
  • Ages 3–5*
  • Indoors or out
  • Autumn
Let's do this

*Illustrative age guidance. Your child's development and circumstances matter more than a number.

A tiny plan for your day

Estimated time: 5 min to prepare · 12 min to explore · 3 min to tidy. It's fine to stop early.

Before you start

What you’ll need

  • A handful of fallen leaves in different colours
  • A length of string or wool, about an arm's length
  • A matchstick-sized twig or a blunt plastic needle
  • A slightly bigger twig to stop the leaves sliding off

Let's begin

Four simple steps

That's the whole activity. Tick each step off as you go, and stop whenever you like.

  1. Grown-up job

    An adult ties the small twig tightly to one end of the string as a "needle", and the bigger twig to the other end as a stopper.

  2. Little one leads

    Your child pushes the needle twig through the middle of each leaf.

  3. Slide the leaves down the string, one at a time.

  4. Hang it up, or join the ends to make a leafy wreath.

All done!

That's every step. However it went, you made a little moment together.

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