Fall Leaf Mason Jar Craft for Kids

Who loves mason jar crafts? We do! Here’s a fun mason jar craft that kids can make, and it’s perfect for the fall season. The leaves are made out of coffee filters, and they are so simple to make! They give the jar a stained glass look when you put a battery powered tea light inside.

I would recommend this craft for kids of any age. My 10 year old was able to handle the entire process himself. Young kids may need help drawing the crayon lines for the leaves, but even the youngest preschoolers will be able to paint the coffee filters and help with the Mod Podge step.

A few years ago, we found some mason jars that were plain on the sides with no writing or design. Those are probably the easiest to use for a project like this, but since I had extra standard mason jars around, we used those. They worked just fine! My son did not have any trouble getting the leaves to stick to the textured design.

Ready to make your own fall leaf mason jar craft?

Supplies needed:

Mason jars
Mod Podge – we used the satin finish
Coffee filters – this is the right type on Amazon, but I would buy them at the grocery store.
Watercolor paints
Brown crayon
Scissors
Paint brush

Step 1: Paint your coffee filters with red, yellow, orange, and green watercolor paints.

Step 2: Let your filters dry. They will dry very quickly, but they do leave paint on whatever they touch while drying. Lay them out to dry on paper towels or another safe surface. We used a poster board that had already been used for something else.

Step 3: Use a brown crayon to draw leaf designs on the coffee filters. Then cut them out. We have found that preschool scissors don’t cut well on coffee filters. The pair in the picture are Fiskars school scissors for elementary aged kids, and they worked really well.

Step 4: Design your jar! Choose your favorite leaves for decorating your mason jar.

Step 5: Brush the leaves onto the jar with Mod Podge. It helps to put some Mod Podge on the jar first, or Mod Podge the back of the leaf to stick it on. Then add a generous coat on the whole jar.

Let it dry for about 20 minutes and then add a second coat.

Once the jar is dry, you’re ready to go! Put a battery powered tea light inside the jar. Display it on the table or on the fireplace mantle. So pretty!

Since there is no Mod Podge on the inside of the jars, you can also use them to hold candy! I’d probably go with wrapped candies, unless you are sure that your child did not get any Mod Podge on the inside.

We’re also thinking of putting a few silk flowers in our jars!