Yesterday the boys and I went for a walk to the park. Autumn is such a lovely, fleeting season, which is why I try to fully embrace it while it’s here (in fact, while I’m writing this, I’m sitting on the steps in my backyard as the boys play in their toy house)! As we walked, I tried to get the boys to appreciate the rich coloured leaves that were littering the pathway and dancing around us on the crisp, fall breeze, but they were more interested in chasing one another and tromping through the leaves rather than admiring the scenery. I always end up collecting at least a few leaves on our walks; I find their vibrant colours and unique shapes to be too enticing to pass by, but I never really know what to do with them afterwards. Yesterday, when we returned home, my eyes were drawn to the book Leaf Man, by Lois Ehlert, which happened to be sitting on our coffee table from a recent library trip. If you are not familiar with Ehlert’s Leaf Man it is a beautifully illustrated book about the imagined journey of a ‘leaf man’ who encounters other leaf animals and objects along his way. I really enjoy this book because it not only encourages children and adults to look more closely at nature, but it also inspires its readers to be creative and to compose their own leaf art, which is exactly what we did!
Materials:
- a variety of different leaves
- construction paper or cardstock (black or fall colours)
- glue
- contact paper or a laminator
- a copy of the book Leaf Man, by Lois Ehlert
Leaf Art:
After reading the book aloud to M I asked him what type of animal or object he thought we could make with the leaves we collected on our walk. He immediately started flipping through the book to gather some ideas of what we should create.
M and I worked together on constructing some leaf animals, such as:
a turtle,
a butterfly,
and a duck.
M also did a little bit of abstract leaf art as well 🙂
After planning out the leaf animals, M glued them down, and then I covered them with contact paper to prevent the leaves from flaking off.
I think they turned out great, and M and I had a lot of fun creating them together!
Click the link for more Fall Activities.
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