Two MUST-DO Fall Activities Using Leaves

Fall is my favorite season!  Hayrides, pumpkin picking, apple crisp, pumpkin pie, cool nights, thanksgiving, and the list continues!  I especially enjoy watching bright green leaves change to red, yellow, and orange!  Today I'd like to share with you two fall leaf activities that I enjoy doing with my students and children!!

Lois Ehlert has a wonderful fall book titled, "Leaf Man."  In this beautifully illustrated story the wind blew "leaf man" away and on a journey.  Throughout "leaf man's" journey you see where he has been such as, "past the chickens, over the ducks and geese, and over the turkey."  Each illustration matches the text with a leaf look alike (see the photos below of a leaf cow, leaf bird, and leaf turtle/fish).

Lois Ehlert, in the author's note, describes how she made each illustration.  She collected fall leaves, made color copies of the leaves, then created animals or objects (as seen above).  After reading this book with children I like to have them try their own leaf creations!  Simply collect fall leaves, press them between a book overnight, then rearrange them to make objects.  To make a keepsake, arrange the leaves on construction paper, tape down, then laminate!  See an examples below!

Rearrange leaves on a flat surface to create different objects.

Tape down a leaf creation to construction paper then laminate for a keepsake!

The second fall leaf activity is simply a leaf rubbing!  Such an easy activity that all ages can enjoy.  Looking to kick it up a notch?  In my 2nd grade classroom students wrote a fall poem with their leaf rubbing.  Then I printed the poem ON the actual leaf rubbing page they created!  Do this by having the child complete their leaf rubbing on an 8.5X11 white computer paper (gentle/softer colorings work best), type the poem, then place the completed leaf rubbing paper in the printer.  Print the poem directly to the page!  It turns out beautifully!!

I hope these two activities will add to your fall festival fun!  Happy Learning!

Check out these GREAT fall leaf books!!
(Amazon Affiliate Links Below)