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Fall Decor with Leaves

Oct 9, 20126,055 views
Nature crafts
Fall Crafts: Fall Decor with Leaves Save
Fall Decor with Leaves Save
Fall Decor with Leaves Save
Fall Decor with Leaves Save
Fall Decor with Leaves Save
Fall Decor with Leaves Save
Fall Decor with Leaves Save

by TurkeyMom in Nature crafts

Ages2–8 yrs
Prep10 min
Activity1 hr
Leveleasy
MessLow
Works for1:1 · Small group · Class

Take a fall-colors nature walk to collect leaves, then sort them into a Fall Book of Leaves and glue the rest inside a Model Magic frame to make a colorful table centerpiece.

⚠️ Safety first

  • Supervise babies and toddlers closely on the walk and at the table. Little ones may put leaves in their mouths.
  • Only collect leaves from plants you recognize. Avoid poison ivy, poison oak and any plant you can't identify.
  • Wash hands after handling leaves and glue.
  • Keep Model Magic and small bits of dried clay away from babies who mouth things. An adult or older child should make the frame.

Before the kids arrive

  • Make the frame: roll Model Magic into small strings and wrap them around an old cooker gasket until it is covered.
  • Let the frame dry completely before the activity.

Steps

  1. Take your exploration tools and a bucket on a nature walk. Look for fall colors.

  2. Pick up leaves in different colors: yellow, orange, red and green.

  3. Sit down and explore the leaves in your bucket.

  4. Sort the leaves. Match the green and colored leaves that came from the same tree.

  5. Tape each tree's leaves onto a page and write the tree's name, like oak, maple or dogwood.

  6. Make a page for each tree to finish your Fall Book of Leaves.

  7. Glue the dry Model Magic frame onto a thick paper circle.

  8. Dot glue inside the frame and stick the leftover leaves on top.

  9. Fill the frame with colorful leaves, let the glue dry, and set it on the table as a centerpiece.

Tips

  • To make the walk a learning experience, pick one subject. The vibrant colors were hard to ignore, so ours was Fall Colors.from the author
  • Little siblings can join in. My 11 month old was busy picking up leaves and dropping them into her sister's bucket, which is great practice for picking up, letting go, and putting things into a container.from the author
  • Working with glue was right up her alley, so the centerpiece kept her happily busy.from the author
  • Model Magic holds its shape when dry, so it makes a neat, sturdy frame.from readers

Make it your own

  • Use the seasons topic to learn the months of the year.
  • Add vocabulary words: trees and plants, annuals and perennials.

The story behind it

By TurkeyMom · October 2012
Fall Decor with Leaves
We took our exploration tools and geared ourselves for our nature walk. My older daughter picked up different colored leaves, while my 11 month old was busy dropping leaves into her sister's bucket.
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Fall Decor with Leaves: the original post

Today’s post is a beautiful nature based fall craft. It is that beautiful time of the year, the fall colors are in full swing and it’s the perfect time to take a nature walk and make fall crafts. It is the best time to explore and learn about trees and plants. To make the walk a learning experience, we sometimes pursue on a particular subject. It’s hard to ignore the vibrant colors and hence that was our topic for the day – Fall Colors. So we took our exploration tools and geared ourselves for our nature walk. Big S decided to pick up different colored leaves. She was full of excitement with all the yellow and orange and red around her. This also worked out for my 11 month old as she was busy picking up and dropping leaves into her sisters’ bucket. An important skill – Pick up and let go of objects. Take from and drop into a container. With our bucket full of leaves we sat down to explore what we picked.

Activity 1: A Fall Book of Leaves

To compile she findings we made a “ A Fall Book of Leaves”. She sorted through the leaves and gathered the green and the colored leaves from the same trees and made her own book. * Great for observing and writing*

Activity 2: Table Decor

There were still many more leaves left. I suggested we make a center piece for our table with our colored leaves. She jumped right in – working with glue? It was right up her alley ! I had an old frame which we had made in the summer from a cooker gasket and Model Magic. Make small strings from Model Magic and wrap around the gasket to cover it. Let it to dry completely and makes for a neat frame. Sorry I don’t have a picture to go with my post ! Attaching a thick piece of paper to the frame gave Big S a canvas to stick the leaves. She was so happy and got busy sticking leaves to the plate to make a colorful table decor - center piece.

  • Seasons - Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer
  • Topic on seasons gave us an opportunity to learn Months of the year.
  • Words : Trees and plants , Annuals and Perennials
  • Gross and Fine motor
  • Sorting

For the Baby:

  • Fine and gross motor skills
  • Pick and drop objects
  • “Take from” and “put into” a container
  • Sensory development

Thanks for reading

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What readers say

💬 2 comments

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  1. Roopa · Oct 2012

    Love the centerpiece! I first thought you had wrapped the gasket with tape, but using model magic is brilliant idea:)

  2. Buzzin · Oct 2012 · replying to Roopa

    Thanks Roopa. My daughter loves playing with all "doh's" and model Magic fit the bill just perfect ! It holds its shape when dry :-) just what i wanted !

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