Age
⚙ 3 years and up
Time and Place
⚙ Any time of day
⚙ Any time of year when leaves can be found
⚙ Indoors or outdoors
Materials
⚙ Leaves
⚙ Paper
⚙ Pencil crayons or crayons
⚙ A table or a flat surface
Optional Materials
⚙ Wax paper to preserve leaves for future rubbings
⚙ Iron (adult use only)
⚙ Paint
⚙ Sun sensitive paper
Safety
⚙ Supervise children at all times
Instructions
Play-based Context
Place leaves on a flat surface, preferably upside down. Cover the leaf with a piece of paper and demonstrate by gently rubbing the pencil crayon over the paper. Let the children make their own rubbings. Encourage the children to observe the parts of the leaf.
Optional: Adults may preserve the leaves for future use by placing them between to pieces of wax paper and ironing them.
Children love to play with leaves in the fall. The educator channeled that enthusiasm to encourage the children to observe leaves more closely.
Questions You May Ask
⚙ What do you notice about your rubbing?
⚙ How else can you make a leaf print?
⚙ What else can you make rubbings of?
⚙ Which leaf is the [biggest, smallest, greenest, widest]?
Related Children's Books
⚙ Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert
⚙ We're Going on a Leaf Hunt by Steve Metzger
⚙ Leaves by David Ezra Stein
