10 Fall Leaf Activities
Fall leaves + children = FUN!!! Any kid, parent, or teacher knows this equation. Here are some simple tips for enjoying fall leaves, no matter what your age.
#1: Jump
Rake a pile of leaves together and jump in them, or go tromping through the leaves where they are piled the thickest. See who can make the leaves go the highest.
#2: Be a leaf
Dance, with or without music, in a swaying motion like you are a leaf ready to drop. Then, depict dropping from the tree to the ground. Especially fun with scarves.
#3: Paint a leaf/Paint with leaf colors
This activity can be done in a variety of ways.
- Brush paint lightly on a leaf and use the leaf to make impressions on a piece of paper
- Look at a leaf and try to paint what you see (or draw what you see)
- Use leaf colors in an imaginative painting
- Paint a tree, then use leaf colors to paint leaves onto it
- Cut out leaf shapes, then use leaf colors to paint them
#4: Make a bouquet
Find beautiful leaves and make a bouquet of them, then put it in a vase (no water).
#5: Make a placemat
Supplies: construction paper in a solid color (white, black, or yellow work best), clear contact paper, a variety of leaves
- Position the leaves on the construction paper, with a dot of glue if necessary
- Fold the contact paper over the front (or both sides, if decorating both sides) and fold the edges down
This is great for Halloween parties, Thanksgiving school dinners, etc.
#6: Do a rubbing
Put your leaf under a piece of paper (not too dark a color unless you're using a white crayon). Take a peeled crayon and rub over the paper where the leaf is. The raised veins of the leaf will show darker than the flat parts.
#7: Mobile
This can be done with any of the paper leaf crafts here.
- Do your leaf craft
- Cut it out
- Use a hole punch to punch one hole
- Thread a string through each of the holes in the leaves, tying them on the string with knots
- Attach an unbent clothespin to the end
- Hang your mobile up
You can also add painted straws for more tiers.
#8: Go on a color walk
While on a walk through a forest of fall leaves, see how many colors you can see, and/or how many color variations.
#9: Take a photo
Even young children can do amazing things with cameras. Get your camera, or a disposable one, and take pictures of the fall leaves you see on your nature walk or just walking around. Then you can make a collage, school bulletin board, photo album, or cards with them.
#10: Write a poem
Gather some leaves, and follow the steps to write a simple "senses" poem about them.
- First line: Name of object/season/etc.
- Second line: Two nouns associated with the first line
- Third line: Three -ing verbs associated with the first line
- Fourth line: Two adjectives associated with the first line
- Fifth line: One synonym of the first line