One of my favorite ways to explore nature is to get crafty with it! This project is a great way to incorporate learning about the outdoors with writing and research skills.
NATURE WALK
Start with a nature walk around your area and collect as many leaves as possible. As you’re collecting, talk about the differences you notice in the leaves. Color, shape, size… What makes each leaf unique? Depending on their background knowledge, you can even have them make guesses on what type of leaf they have found.
RESEARCH
Once you have all of your leaves, choose a few to research! If your child is old enough, have them get on Google and start doing their own research. If not, pull up a diagram of common leaves in your area and have your younger kiddo point out which leaves match. Start making notes of these leaves and labeling them.
START THE CRAFTING- CREATE THE TREE TRUNK
After you identify which leaves are which, start creating your tree! I used a plain manila folder and completely unfolded it. I started by drawing the sides of the tree with a marker. Then, I dotted different types of lines (straight, zig-zag, curvy, etc.) for the branches. By doing this, my toddler was able to trace the lines and develop her fine motor skills with writing. If you have an older child, they can get creative and make the tree as realistic or abstract as they would like.
ADD YOUR LEAVES
This is where the action happens! Add your leaves to the branches! We chose to tape them down because we ran out of glue, but I’m sure glue would work just as well. As you add the leaves, talk with your child about the type of leaf it is. Label each of the leaves on the tree.
Voila! You have a beautiful tree and a great experience with your child 🤗
FURTHERING THE LEARNING
Depending on your child’s age, there are so many other ways to continue the learning! When I taught third grade, we would do some deeper exploring on trees, seasons, life cycles, etc. Here are a few more ways you can tie in higher level thinking for your older kids:
- Identify the leaves and research specific trees life cycles and their ecosystems, then create an ecosystem drawing
- After creating the tree, have your child research more about a specific one and write a research report
- Use this time to talk about seasons, weather, and climate. Fall is a wonderful time to have these conversations!
- Dig deeper into plant life and discuss photosynthesis
- Tie in historical artists and styles while creating the tree. Maybe rather than having your child draw a standard tree, have them use Pointillism or another style of art to create their tree
- Use this as a start to a long term study of the trees changing color. Kids love experiments and recording data! Fall is the perfect time to analyze the changing environment in your area.