Autumn Leaf Gathering

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Ages 3 and Up

Duration: Over One Hour

Experience the change of seasons with your children by collecting colorful leaves and turning them into works of art! Read More

WHAT YOU NEED

WHAT TO SAY

Pick an afternoon to go to an area near you where the leaves on the trees are changing color.
As you walk along, gather the brightly colored leaves and discuss why leaves change color in the fall each year.
- Trees make their own food by taking water from the ground up through their roots. They combine the gas called carbon dioxide and the sunlight from the air with the water from their roots to form chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is green and it is the substance that gives leaves their green color.
- Many trees stop making food in the winter and so the chlorophyll goes away. This uncovers orange and yellow colors that were there all along!
- The red and brown colors come from things like food that is left in the leaves when the chlorophyll stops producing in the fall.

Crayon Leaf Rubbings

WHAT YOU NEED

HOW TO DO IT

Lay a leaf face-side-up on a table or flat surface.
Cover the leaf with tracing paper.
Peel the paper label off a crayon and lay the crayon on its side on the paper.
Lightly rub the side of the crayon over the paper covering the leaf. Make sure you cover the entire area and that you also rub around the edges of the leaf so that you can see the contrast in this area.

Autumn Wreath

WHAT YOU NEED

HOW TO DO IT

TIPS

If you found small pinecones, acorns and berries on your walk, glue them to the wreath as well.

FOLLOW UP FUN

Collect a leaf from each tree in your neighborhood. Check out a book on trees from the library and see if you can identify the leaves. Make a book and draw and label each leaf.

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