Make creative designs with leaves or natural materials that you find from trees. In autumn climates, use different colored autumn leaves, and in warm climates (or other seasons) use interestingly shaped green leaves.
Set up Time: 5 minutes
Directions
- Go outside and collect leaves from trees. While collecting leaves, talk about the shape, color, or name of the tree that the leaf belongs to.
- Create an art work area with paper, glue sticks, googly eyes, and the leaves.
- Invite children to make their own leaf creatures!
Materials
- Leaves
- White paper
- Googly eyes
- Glue stick
Tip
If you do not know the names of local trees, that is okay! There are many different plant identification apps that help adults learn about regional flora.
Learning Through Play
Social-Emotional: Independence – Going on excursions to collect loose parts is a great way to build children’s vocabulary. For young children, narrate by saying “Oh I see you are collecting acorns”, and with older children, invite them to make predictions about what they may find or where they may find it. For example, what treasures might we find under a pine tree? What about an oak tree?
Cognitive: Connections – When children design their creatures, invite them to explain what parts of the body they are making, or other identifiers. This helps them connect to what they’ve seen in the outside world.
School Readiness: Beginning Letter Sounds – Ask children what they have created, and you can write the name underneath their creation. This helps them connect the sound to the practical spelling. For example, say: ‘Oh wonderful, you made a bear! I’m going to write `Bear’ underneath…” and then narrate how to spell the word as you write each letter.
See this activity in the Rayz Kidz app, along with hundreds of other fun, hands-on activities and clear descriptions of the beautiful learning that is happening through play.
