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Cute & Easy Crafts for Kids

Kids Get Crafty: Chestnut Crafts (Pencil Toppers)

Welcome to this week’s Kids Crafts – this week we share with your our horse chestnut craft – Chestnut Pencil Toppers. Crafting with chestnuts, acorns, leaves and bits and pieces is something that I remember well from early childhood.. mainly we would make little animals, similar to the acorn critters from last week.

autumn crafts
First shared in Sept 2011

Chestnuts are slightly trickier to craft with, as they tend to be harder than acorns. So many Germans have a special chestnut tool! But we managed with a sharp pair of kitchen scissors (used by me only) and tooth picks. I do remember this being slightly frustrating and yet strangely rewarding as a child! So do help them, where you can!

I am also, always on the look out for new chestnut crafts (we made plenty of chestnut creatures) and loved the idea of making pencil toppers, that I found here. I thought they were rather adorable. But we didn’t have “all the bits” and I was worried about the longevity of them. So here are our own.. simpler ones!x

Our Book

The summer holidays are over. Red Ted is back at nursery school and there is a fresh bite in the air. The skies are blue. The parks are littered with chestnuts and acorns. There is definitely a bit of Autumn in the air!

Oddly, we don’t have that many autumn books to choose from – though we are going to library again next week and see what I can dig up. One sweet little book that I have reviewed before is –

Leaf Trouble

Leaf Trouble, Jonathan Emmett. This book tells the story of a little squirrel called Pip (perfect for our Pip Squeak!). Pip wakes one day to find that things are different: the leaves are changing colour and falling off the tree. Surely this isn’t right?! What is happening. His mum comes and explains why it is happening and that the leaves will come back again – a little like how the sun sets and comes back again the next day. I love the ending, where Pip compares the beautiful autumn colours to the setting sun. Very pretty.

The Craft

We made lots and lots of things in one session… doesn’t a bowl full of Autumn findings just look gorgeous?

Autumn Crafts

How to make Chestnut Pencil Topper Video:

Watch the video or read the step by step instructions below!!

Chestnut Pencil Toppers – materials

  • Chestnuts (aka Conkers)
  • Toothpicks,
  • a pen,
  • glue,
  • scissors,
  • funky foam/ card or felt (optional),
  • googly eyes (optional)

How to make Conker Pencil Conker Toppers and Animals

Our focus was on the chestnuts, as mentioned above, some people use a little chestnut tool to work with. We found, that tooth picks worked on some fresher and softer chestnuts and were not, our kitchen scissors came into good use. I would prick a hole and the children would add the tooth picks.. or instruct me as to where they wanted things to go.

Kastanien Basteln
Autumn Crafts

Red Ted LOVED the fact that the Chestnuts have “natural faces” and for once preferred drawing on eyes to using googley eyes.

Kastanien Basteln
Kastanien Basteln

We made a lion (that we also found here) a giraffe, some hedgehogs, a piggy and a boy (with drawn on face and belly button – we used some of those “flat chestnuts” as feet, so that it can stand up without toppling).

Kastanien bastlen
Kastanien basteln

I then made some pencil toppers for the children – cutting out some foam shapes for ears and features, drawing on faces. Above you can see, that I cut some slits for the ears and then glued them in… We loved using natural features – such as the markings of the chestnut for the nose of the bear… And with the scissors I carved out a hole big enough for the pencil.

Kastanien Basteln
Kastanien Basteln

[Mermaid just suggested in the comments to use a hot glue gun… yes, I believe that would make all the difference]. The Teddy was the most “durable” – as the inserted ears glue well. We discovered that the funky foam and the “shiny” part of chestnut doesn’t stick too well… I had to go back and sneak on some super glue. So.. design you chestnuts with “insertions” or try out what glue sticks best…. OR just keep the pencil toppers at home – they are fine in use at home, just not in a pencil case where they get knocked about!

See our full set of Chestnut DIYs here:

This is one of my most precious childhood memories - crafting with conkers (also known as horse chestnuts or buckeye crafts) - I love the smooth texture and the fun chestnut crafts you can make. Here re 15 lovely ideas for Fall
https://www.redtedart.com/conkers-crafts-aka-buckeye-crafts-or-horse-chestnuts/

The video tutorial is also available on YouTube

Filed Under: Autumn, Kids Craft, Nature 44 Comments

Comments

  3. mermaid says

    The pencil toppers are so cute 🙂 You can use them as little puppets to play with in the table top puppet theatre. (I actually thought they are puppets when I first saw them 🙂 )

    Don`t you use the glue gun?

    Reply

  4. Red Ted Art says

    Oh yes, a little theater would be great too 🙂 and yes yes yes a glue gun would do the trick… I confess.. I don’t own one! Time to invest I think 😉

    Reply

  7. se7en says

    Oh I wish we had chestnuts here!!! But no…. none of that in sunny South Africa. Our neighbor had a tree that bore about three chestnuts a year, but so many childhood books had “hands warmed by chestnuts in them!!!” Meanwhile can you tell me why link tools thinks my links are invalid… – how do you link my links without it gagging? Its killing me not to be able to link up!!! Here is this weeks rainy day link up: http://www.se7en.org.za/2011/09/16/se7en-1-rain-filled-crafts-and-activities…

    Reply

  10. Red Ted Art says

    Se7en – I really don’t mind linking for you 😉 just keep leaving it in the comments!!!

    And oh no.. no chestnuts!??!?!? Aaaargh… can you find a replacement something?

    ScienceSparks – go get your acorn critters made!!

    Reply

  13. Kerri says

    Super craft! Elle would love the pig!

    I also love the onesie sachets that you recently posted. What a wonderful use for them!! Great gift idea for grandmothers.

    Thanks for hosting!

    Reply

  17. Red Ted Art says

    We love Autumn Crafts too! Such a fabulous time of year with a great set of natureal of resources 🙂

    Happy Chestnut Crafting everyone and thank you for your lovely comments!

    Reply

  21. Tracey M says

    What a cute book! We just found a great book even though it was a bit technical, he loved learning about what’s inside the leaves that is making them change color (Why Do Leaves Change Color by Betsy Maestro). We had fun in our farm unit this week and did a simple craft of potato stamping, since farmers grow potatoes. Love how you are using all these fun fall things from nature for your craft.

    Reply

  26. Michelle Breum says

    So many fun crafts here! I don’t have one to link, but I’m sharing this on a We Teach Children to Read facebook page and on twitter. Many families and teachers are finding fun ideas and books here!

    Reply

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