September 2022 Kids’ Corner
from the Gale River Cooperative Preschool
Leaves are Falling all around
If your head is where mine is right now, life is all about back to school! But you may have noticed a few leaves appearing on the ground in some brilliant colors. While our cameras are trained on the fire-like foliage in October, by November nearly one-and-a-half tons of leaf litter will have blanketed the northern hardwood forest floor providing long-lasting nutrients. We’re grateful the fall foliage coats our landscape, but why?
Leaves are green because during the growing season they are constantly producing a chemical called chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is an important part of photosynthesis, or the process of turning sunlight into usable energy for the plants. Chlorophyll is very green and hides other colors in the leaf while it’s in large supply. However, as winter nears, the plants stop growing leaves and stop producing chlorophyll. This means that the other colors are slowly revealed. The reds, oranges and yellows that waited patiently behind the bright greens all summer get their time to shine!
Deciduous plants, plants that lose their leaves in the fall, are planning on shedding them from the moment they bud. When new leaves bud, the part that connects the leaf to the branch is called the abscission layer. This is a thinner layer of tissue that when the plant stops making food in the fall, will dissolve its bonds and break off from the tree. It takes a lot of work to create and maintain leaves so the trees don’t want to invest that energy all winter when little food would be made. Lucky for us, the leaves break off because there are so many ways we can use them and celebrate them all fall!
Interested in autumn leaves activities and crafts? We’ve got you covered!
Hiking with young children can be challenging so having little trail games in your back pocket can break up the walking and keep them engaged. A fun one is using leaves in matching or descriptive mini games. Pick a leaf and ask your child to find one that’s similar or different. Have them describe the leaf to you using adjectives like pointy, smooth, or round. Use prepositions and have them move the leaf over, under, behind and in front of yours!
What child doesn’t love collecting things? Give them a basket to walk with and they will fill it with interesting things. Collecting leaves is a fun task, especially since there are so many things you can do with them when you get home. Giving the children something to focus on during their hike will also give them purpose and responsibility.
There’s so much to do with leaves! A go-to is making stained glass decorations with some clear adhesive plastic such as no-heat lamination plastic. Tape the paper to the table sticky side up and have your child press dry colorful leaves onto it. When they’re done, cover it with a second piece of sticky plastic to seal it up. You can then cut it into shapes, hang it in the window, and the light will filter through the beautiful colors.
The color in leaves will transfer under force which makes for a fun and tool-involved project! Grab some beautiful leaves and either paper or cloth. Place a leaf on top then cover it with clear plastic so you can see what you’re doing and keep it from moving. Using a mallet, hammer the entire leaf to transfer the color and stain the paper or cloth.
September 2021 Kids Corner
from the Gale River Cooperative Preschool
Preserving Fall Leaves and Cool Leaf Crafts!
Preserving Leaves:
There are many different ways to preserve fall leaves. Here are three ways that can help you keep your leaves and even craft with them!
Book Press: This is the most simple way of preserving fall leaves, though it will also probably not last as long as other methods.
Get some heavy books
Put the leaves between two pieces of paper and put heavy books on top. It will take a week or two for the leaves to be fully pressed.
Wax Paper sandwich: This will help to keep some of the great color and will also allow for more versatile crafting or use.
Get two pieces of wax paper and heat an iron (make sure to do this as a family and keep safety in mind!)
Put one piece of wax paper down on top of a thin towel or cloth napkin. Put the leaves on top of that, spread out so you can see them and there is space between each leaf. Then put the other sheet of wax paper on top.
When the iron is hot, press the iron down on the wax paper to seal in the leaves.
Laminate: If you are lucky enough to have access to a laminator (or can find one at a local store to use), laminating your leaves will allow the color to stay preserved and tons of crafting opportunities will await!
Crafting with Leaves!
There are plenty of ways to play with and craft with leaves that have not been preserved. Just get out some markers, pens, glue, paper, and have at it! Or, if you are outside, you can make leaf jewelry, temporary art, or build a sweet fairy house!
If you want your artwork or crafts to last longer, preserving the leaves is the way to go! Once your leaves are preserved, so many crafting opportunities await!
Decorate your leaves! Glitter pens, glitter, and markers are all great ways to decorate your leaves. Try tracing the veins of the leaves, or creating a border around the edge. Leaves are all so different and have similarities too!
Create leaf animals or faces with different parts of the leaves or different shaped leaves. Add some googly eyes and your creation will come alive!
Make a stained glass window! For this you will need some clear backed plastic (or clear contact paper.) Simply fold the contact paper sheet in half, take off the backing, and create your design on one half of the sheet. You can add leaves of all sizes, shapes, and colors. When done, seal over the other half of the plastic sheet. You can stick this to your window, or if you have a hole punch, you can punch a couple of holes and put string through so you can hang it that way.
Create your own idea! Let the leaves and beautiful fall inspire you!
Thanks to our partner, the Gale River Cooperative Preschool in Bethlehem, for helping our area parents get kiddos outside for fun no matter the time of year.
