Home · DIY Corner · DIY Paper Apple Orchard Collage

DIY Paper Apple Orchard Collage for a Fall Kids' Party

An orchard made by little guests will never have matching trees, and that is the charm. This shared collage gives a fall birthday an activity and a keepsake in one afternoon — and it happens at the kids' table, where everyone can reach.

Apple-picking season in New Jersey runs from the last week of August to the end of October, and the fall birthday that follows an orchard trip is one of the nicest parties we deliver for: a farm table or a run of scalloped tables on the lawn, a bowl of the apples the children picked that morning, and — if the host has planned well — something for twelve small hands to do while the grown-ups finish the cider. This is that something. A shared paper orchard, big enough to see from across the yard, that every guest adds one apple to and the birthday child keeps.

The whole thing happens at the kids' table. A kid-height table with real little chairs is the difference between a craft that works and a craft that ends in tears: the children can reach the middle of the paper, the glue sticks stay on the table instead of the lawn, and no one is kneeling on an adult chair. Prepare the big shapes the night before, set the table like a tiny art studio and the activity runs itself for twenty minutes.

How to make the orchard

1. Draw a simple two-tree orchard

   Lay the big sheet on the table horizontally and sketch two large trees in pencil: tall trunks with wide, round canopies, a gap between them, open sky above and an open band of ground along the bottom. Two trees are plenty. A crowded outline leaves the children fewer decisions to make, and the empty ground is where the youngest guests will draw grass, a dog, a sun and a very large worm. Lightly color the canopies green so the orchard reads as an orchard before a single apple goes on.

2. Cut the trunks and about sixteen apples

   Cut the two trunks from brown paper. For the apples, fold a scrap of card in half, cut a rounded half-apple shape on the fold and open it: that is your template. Trace and cut about sixteen apples, each 3 inches wide, from the red and yellow paper — more than the number of children, so no one gets the last one. Cut a dozen large, simple leaf shapes from the green rather than fiddly stems. Keep two or three full sheets uncut for the guest who wants to make a bird instead; that is allowed.

3. Glue the background the night before

   Glue the trunks onto the drawn outline and leave the sheet flat overnight to dry. Everything else stays loose. Sort the apples and leaves by color into shallow trays or bowls — cupcake tins work — so the children can see every choice at once. Put the scissors away now; from this point the project needs none, and the youngest guests should never see a pair on the table. For children who still mouth things, set a basket of chunky crayons and a plain sheet at their seat instead, and let a grown-up add their apple for them.

4. Set the kids' table like a studio

   On the morning of the party, tape a kraft-paper runner down the length of the kids' table so glue and crayon land on paper, never on the tabletop. Lay the orchard sheet across the middle where the most children can reach it — on a long farm table that is the center; on two scalloped tables pushed end to end, straddle the join. Trays of apples and leaves go at each end of the table, a glue stick sits between every two chairs and a cup of crayons every three. Our table-styling guide has the layout for switching the same table from craft to cake.

5. Let every child add one or two apples

   As the children sit, ask each one to pick an apple, decorate it with crayon — stripes, dots, a face, a leaf — and glue it wherever they like: on a canopy, falling through the air, in the grass. One grown-up at each end of the table spreads glue for the smallest hands and gently makes room for the next child. Nobody is assigned a spot and nobody is asked to copy the sample. Names can go on the back of each apple if families want to find theirs later. Twenty minutes is about right; stop while the orchard still has space rather than when it is full.

6. Dry it flat, then display and save it

   Before lunch is served, carry the orchard on its flat board to a side table or a shaded step to dry, and pull the kraft runner off the kids' table so it is clean for cake. Once dry, prop it on an easel, lean it against the dessert cart base or stand it on a host-owned surface where the grown-ups can admire it — never tape it to rented furniture or the house. Photograph the birthday child in front of it before the last apple is picked off by a toddler, then roll it loosely around a cardboard tube to keep. Next year's orchard goes beside it.

Where it earns its keep

A shared collage does three jobs at a fall party: it settles the children at the table the moment they arrive, it gives the grown-ups a quiet quarter-hour, and it becomes the one decoration that goes home with a story attached. It works at a backyard orchard party, at the no-carve pumpkin party as the second station, and indoors at an October rain-day party with the leaves swapped for snowflakes. For the rest of the season, our fall party ideas and the mini caramel apple bar cover the dessert cart.

We bring the kids' tables, little chairs and dessert carts — delivered, set up and picked up the next day across New Jersey and New York — and we are happy to bring a tabletop covering if you tell us there is glue in the plan. The craft, and the apples, are yours. Send your date through Get a Quote and we will confirm the same day.

Frequently asked questions