M and I collected some leaves that had already fallen from the trees in our backyard, and set them aside for our leaf printing activity. We talked about why the leaves change colour and eventually fall from the trees. M is also learning about the colours of fall in Preschool, so I thought this would be a simple extension activity to reinforce what he’s already learning.
All we used were non-toxic tempera paint (brown, yellow, red), leaves of different sizes and shapes, a sponge brush or paint brush, and light blue scrapbook paper.
I squirted some paint onto a paper bag and showed M how to paint the back, veiny part, of the leaf in order to get a good print.
Then, he pressed the painted side of the leaf onto the paper.
I encouraged M to overlap his leaf prints and to experiment with mixing colours, in order to make a more interesting and dynamic painting. What I loved most was watching M’s creative side take over; I would make suggestions to him and he would just say, ‘no mommy, I’m doing this’.
Not all of M’s leaf prints ended up looking like leaves… some of them looked like smeared paint blobs, but he did it himself, and to me the process is far more important than the finished product at this age 🙂
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