Floating Leaves

 Have some old silk leaves that have outlived their usefulness? Repurpose them with this fun and creative craft.

The only other item you'll have to have is monofilament thread or fishing line. Using a needle or other sharp point, make a hole in a leaf near the edge. Push the thread through the hole and tie it so that it doesn't slide up or down the line. Leave a little space in the line and tie on another leaf.

When these strings of leaves are suspended in front of a window or from a light fixture, they look like real leaves floating down.

The grandchildren and I added some beads to our strings. At the bottom we tied on acorn bells that I had found at a craft shop. These additions aren't strictly necessary, however.

If you use beads, you'll have to have a method to keep them from sliding all the way down the line. We tried tying knots to hold them, but our line was too fine, so we simply fed the line around and through the bottom bead several times to hold it, then added more beads on top.

This craft is suitable for grandchildren of school-age and up.

Waxed Paper Leaves

Here's an old-school method for preserving beautiful fall foliage, courtesy of Gardening Expert Marie Ianotti. You'll have to help the grandchildren, but then you'll have great-looking real leaves for other projects.

Fall leaves are sandwiched between sheets of waxed paper and ironed. Be sure to protect your iron and your ironing board with cloth. 

After ironing, the leaves can then be trimmed and used for centerpieces, wreathes, garlands and a host of other projects.

Get detailed instructions and helpful hints on the Gardening site.

A slightly more modern version of this project involves sandwiching leaves between sheets of contact paper to create autumn place mats.

Turkey Yourself

 If you like the websites that let you "elf" yourself at Christmas, you'll enjoy this idea, and the grandkids are bound to like it.

All you need are some duplicate photos of the grandchildren that you don't mind cutting up and some colored paper to create the rest of the turkey.

Melissa of Bless This Mess sent these cards to her mother, but they would make cute placecards or decorations for Thanksgiving dinner.

Take a closer look or find more easy turkey crafts at Bless This Mess.

Fall Leaf Prints

Another classic fall craft is making leaf prints. I like this one because it's a good way to use odds and ends of paint. Just make sure the paint is washable!

Gather leaves with the grandchildren. They don't need to be dry leaves. Let them choose one with an interesting shape to daub paint on. It's not necessary to cover the entire leaf, and it doesn't matter if the colors get mixed up a bit. Then help the grandchildren press the painted side of the leaf down on a white sheet of paper.

Lift carefully for a lovely fall leaf print.

Jodi Durr of Meaningful Mama uses paper plates to hold the paint, for easy cleanup. Small handled sponges are easier for children to use than paintbrushes.

Find more details and a link to more leaf crafts at Meaningful Mama.

I love tent camping with the grandchildren. Maybe that's why I love this craft created by Rebecca of Sturdy for Common Things. Rebecca calls it a Night Creatures Collage.

The basic ingredients are construction paper, glue, sticks and googly eyes. Rebecca made her collages extra pretty by prepping the black construction paper with glitter spray paint. You might want to do this step ahead of time because of the mess and the fumes, or skip it altogether.

Get detailed directions at the Sturdy for Common Things website. (Rebecca has great ideas for bedtiime reading, too.)

Using a cookie cutter for a pattern makes this craft easy, but if you don't own one, you can easily create a cardboard pattern for the grandchildren to trace.

I like that this craft requires only orange paper, black marker and a bit of tape. The grandkids will get a big kick out of creating the jack-o-lantern faces.

Get detailed directions from the School-Age Children site on About.com.