L is for Leaves

This was a fun activity that incorporated a fun fall hunt, fine motor skills, letter review, sensory, gluing practice, and lots of teachable moments on the walk!

Before the walk we talked about:

*Color of changing leaves

*Items that represent fall

*What to collect, what to avoid

Then off we went! We collected pine needles, pine cones, crunchy leaves, leaves that are just changing, acorns, dried branches, and anything else that represented fall.

For this activity it's best to make sure you collect some crunchy leaves.

We played some I/eye spy games:

"I spy with my little eye, something squirrels collect!"

Then at home, with a previously prepared Ll paper, they crunched and smashed the leaves, and sprinkled them like glitter over a glued surface.

L is for leaves. Enjoy!

Fabulous Fall Fun: Playing in Leaves

If your children are like mine, you already know that leaves=fall fun. Did you ever think about the learning value to playing in leaves? We have little child-sized rakes for our children. They work on their gross motor skills as they rake leaves, jump in the piles, and toss the leaves in the air.

They also get some great sensory input as they touch the leaves with their hands and feel them crackle. 

It is also a great time to learn scientifically about the changing leaves. Why do they fall from the trees? Why do they change colors? Why do they only do this in the Autumn? So as you enjoy your Fall weather, be sure to include a fun leaf-jumping activity and have fun while learning.

Leaf Rubbings

Rubbings are a great activity that seem magical to children.

Supplies

• Paper
• Leaves (not dry)
• Crayon with paper removed

Activity

Take your paper and put it over the leaves. Turn the crayon on its side and rub it all over the paper to reveal the print of the leaves. Easy and awesome!

Leaf Man

In the Fall Books post I recently did, I mentioned the book Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert. Leaf Man shows many pictures of different leaf creations and is a really cute book.

After reading the book a couple of months ago, I had the genius idea for a cute activity. I later explained it to Brayden while we were on a hike and I was gathering leaves.

"We are going to use these leaves to make a leaf man just like in the book Leaf Man," I said.

"Oh, you mean like I did at Preschool last year?" He asked.

"You did that at preschool last year?" I questioned.

"Yeah. Remember the guy made out of leaves." That was the end of the conversation.

Actually, I knew exactly what he was talking about. That's what that was :)! You can see it pictured above. Honestly, at the time I thought it was a bunch of leaves he found glued to a paper. But now I see it is a leaf man. I also see that Brayden's amazing preschool teacher beat me to the punch of a great idea. I will just say I am glad my girls will be going to school there, too :)

The activity is pretty self-explanatory. You read the book Leaf Man. You gather leaves and such to make your own creation. Then you create.

In Leaf Man, there are more than simply "men" images. The leaves form to make all sorts of things. 

Sponge Painting Fall Leaf Picture

This is something Kaitlyn did last year as a two year old. This is a great activity for children in that age range because they can make a picture that they can recognize--it turns out similar to how they pictured it. It is also great for children of all ages because all children love to paint :)

Materials

• Sponges
• Paint
• Picture
• Crayon
• Paper plates

Activity

Cut a sponge into square or rectangle shapes. Set out some paint on paper plates. 

Have your child draw a tree trunk in the middle of the paper.

Have your child dip the sponge in paint and put it on the paper around the "trunk" to make leaves.

Done!

Falling Leaves Picture

This is a fun, easy picture for your child to make. A great thing is that she is making a picture of leaves falling, so her main objective is to get the paper leaves on the paper...anywhere on the paper. This makes it friendly for young toddlers on up. Kaitlyn did this in our church nursery.

AGE RANGE
18 months and up. You could try it with a toddler younger than that, but expect to help a lot.

SKILLS TAUGHT

• Science
• Fine motor skills
• Colors

SUPPLIES

• Paper with a tree drawn or printed on it. You want just the tree without leaves. If you are doing this with an older preschooler, you could have him draw the tree himself.
• Pieces of paper to represent leaves. You can do squares, leaf shapes...whatever. You can also let your child rip small pieces of paper up to put on the tree.
• Glue.

ACTIVITY

• Give your child the supplies.
• Have your child paste the leaves on the picture.
• Talk about how leaves change colors in autumn and fall to the ground. Our nursery leaders also talked about our beautiful world.

PHOTO

POST ACTIVITY

A great thing you can do after you make this picture is to go out and rake leaves. Rake them into a pile and jump into them! Also, point out the leaves that are still on the trees.

Fall Wreath

Here's a quick and easy craft to do with your kiddos at home. It helps with hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, sorting, patience, sitting skils, and it's really fun!

Above is the finished product of a 2 year old, completed independently.

Ages: As soon as they can stick things down on an already glued surface. For independent work, I'd say 2 years and up.

Materials:

• Leaves (I got fake ones at the local dollar store. I've also seen them at craft stores and Wal-Mart).
• Craft glue (not Elmer's---not enough sticking power)
• Cotton swabs (optional)
• Large black foam sheet

Activity:

1. Cut a large "O" shape out of foam. This is the base of the wreath. Construction paper would work, but it's a bit flimsy.
2. For younger children, cover the top of the foam with the glue. For older children (2+) let them put glue on the individual leaves. I showed my daughter how to stick them on. I covered the wreath base with some glue AND let her glue the leaves on. I wanted to make sure that once the glue dried the leaves really stayed in place.
3. Sort leaves by color if desired. My directions were to cover the base with leaves until she couldn't see any more of the black foam.
4. Hang!

Fall : Do-A-Dot

Do-A-Dot Art! is a pack of sponge tip paints/markers that are washable. There are multiple packs, multiple colors, and different coloring books designed especially for these markers. I found our set at Michael's, our local craft store. Here's how we started talking about Fall with our 2 year old.

Ages: As early as they can pound on a piece of paper with these markers. :) I just found them recently, but my daughter would have been able to handle them much earlier.

Materials Needed:
*Book about fall (We read When Autumn Comes by Robert Maas)
*White paper
*Do-A-Dot markers (green, red, yellow, orange)


Prep:
*The night before I painted a bare tree for her to put leaves on
*Choose an appropriate book to teach about fall (or apples).




Activity:
1. Read the story, talking about what happens in the Fall/Autumn.
2. Make sure you point out the changes in the trees.
3. Show your child how to dot on the leaves.
4. Let them stamp away! Try not too be too involved. I have a tendency to want crafts to look a certain way (like actually looking like a fall tree when she's done) but sometimes that takes the fun and creativity away from your child. I just try to keep on on the paper (rather than hands, clothes, or tables).




To do this activity with apples:
*Read an apple book. We read Apples, Apples, Apples by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace. It's a great story about a bunny family that goes to an apple orchard to pick apples. There are graphs that older children would understand, and diagrams of an apple. The farmer explains how apples grow, and at the end of the story there is a recipe, a song, and a painting craft. Apple tasting (red vs. yellow vs. green) is very appropriate with this story.
*Use Do-A-Dot markers to make an apple tree.
*We also talked about the parts of the apple (since there is a diagram). We cut open an apple and used the terms in the book to talk about what each part does, which part we eat, etc (skin, flesh, seeds, stem, leaves).

Extensions:
* For older children, you can fold a piece of paper into 4 squares. Paint a bare tree in each square. Label Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter. Read Arnold's Apple Tree, a great book about the progression of an apple tree through the seasons. Use the Do-A-Dots or a Q-tip and washable paint to dot the leaves, buds, flowers, and snow on the trees.

*For any age group, use animal stamps or stickers and add the appropriate animals to the pictures. You can make it a counting activity as well "Let's add one squirrel. Let's add 2 birds. Let's add 3 blossoms, 4 red apples, etc."

*You can add pictures of people (from a magazine, stick people, real photos) and dress them appropriately for the season. I took pictures of family and just asked her what they should wear to pick apples ("Should Mommy wear a bathing suit in the fall? Should Daddy have gloves? What is the weather like? So since the weather is ____, then he should wear ___.")

*We went to the grocery store and chose one of each kind of apple to taste. She had a great time helping me choose good apples from each display. We later took them home and tasted. I let her take a bite out of each apple to see which she liked the most and to talk about different flavors and textures (sweet, sour, hard, soft, etc). Then I chopped them up and we used the recipe in the book (Apples, Apples, Apples) to make applesauce.