Leaves are falling this week during our Weekly Virtual Book Club for Kids and we are reading Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert!
Leaf Man is filled with snazzy leaf collages and images. Inspired by the book we decided to do a collage of color on our leaves using crayon and watercolor.
MATERIALS NEEDED FOR GIANT LEAF ART:
- roll of finger painting paper
- painters tape
- crayons
- liquid watercolors
- paint brushes
INSTRUCTIONS FOR GIANT LEAF ART:
To get started I drew two large leaves onto finger printing paper (shiny side down) and then I cut them out.
After they were cut out, I secured them to the floor with painters tape so that they wouldn't move around while we were painting and drawing.
We started off by covering the leaves in crayons. I loved seeing the different patterns and visual textures that were created.
Next I got out our liquid watercolors and diluted them a bit and then we began painting our leaves. It was fun to watch the reaction between the watercolor and the crayons.
Once the leaves were covered in colors, we laid them out to dry and we read Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert!
The leaves were gorgeous anywhere we put them and it was fun to see how they changed colors in the light. I especially loved the contrast between the yellow crayon and the bright blue on my daughter's leaf.
We loved mixing the colors and trying to figure out which colors made what. The end results were beautiful!
Have you ever tried making leaves "giant-sized"? Have you done any crayon resist recently? This project was not only fun and colorful, but the kids took great ownership of how their leaves turned out!
MORE LEAF THEMED BOOKS:
Featured Book:
Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert
Additional Books:
Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert
We're Going On A Leaf Hunt by Steve Metzger
Fletcher and the Falling Leaves by Julia Rawlinson
Bear Has a Story to Tell by Philip C. Snead
MORE LEAF THEMED ACTIVITIES:
Alphabet Activities
Learning About Letters with Leaves & Falling Leaves Song - Kori at Home
Beginning Sounds Activity: Leaf Sticker Tree- Growing Book by Book
Letter Recognition Game with Free Leaf Printable
Name Activities
Leaf Name Sticky Wall - Inspiration Laboratories
Learn to Write Your Name with 'Letter Man' - Chickadee Lit
Write Your Name In Leaves - Adventures of Adam
Number Activities
Learning Fun With Leaves - Clare's Little Tots
Preschool Printable Counting Leaves-CraftCreateCalm
Sensory Activities
Fall Loose Parts Sensory Invitation - My Storytime Corner
Fall Leaf Auditory Processing Activities
Science Activities
Preschool Leaf Science Experiment - Preschool Powol Packets
Simple Preschool Science: Leaf Matching Activity-- School Time Snippets
Color Activities
Giant Colorful Watercolor Fall Leaves for Kids- Toddler Approved
Basic Math with Fall Leaves for Preschoolers - Views From a Step Stool
Leaf Color Sorting - My Bored Toddler
Pre-Writing Activities
Leaf Art ~ Prewriting Patterns for Fall
Leaf Tracing Pre-Writing Activity - Books and Giggles
Leaf puppets - messy little monster
Movement Activities
Number Leaf Scavenger Hunt - The Educators' Spin On It
Follow the leaves: Cardinal Directions and Map Skills for kids - Extremely Good Parenting
Shapes Activities
Leaf Art - Making scenes/people with leaves - Mama Smiles
Exploring Leaf Shapes - Nature Walk Activity - To be a Kid Again
Leaf Shapes Fingerprint Activity - Artsy Momma
Do you have a favorite leaf themed book or activity? Come tell us about it!
My kids love any art work on a large scale….not sure if I tried to cut out a giant leaf it would actually look like a leaf though. Love the colours autumn is so beautiful.
My kids will LOVE this activity! These giant leaves would look great in a big picture window!