The leaves are falling, creating a ton of fun. The kids and I love this time of year. The best part, of course, is raking up the leaves into big piles and jumping in them. It’s also a great time of year for walks. As we walk, we can see the beautiful colors the trees are taking on.

The children love picking up the beautiful colored leaves that have fallen on the ground. The leaves seem to catch their eye for various reasons, whether it’s the color, size or shape.

Taking these walks has spawned a couple of annual projects. The first is a nature crown and the second is leaf rubbings.

The nature crown is a neat way to make getting time outside in the fall even more enjoyable for the kids, especially if you have a routine walk you take around the block. Suddenly it's brought to life again as the children look for leaves, sticks, flowers, pinecones or any nature item to put on their crown. This idea was originally suggested in a newsletter I received from the Child Care Network.

Leaf rubbings are not a new project but are a timeless one that has been around for ages. However the kids are always delighted to see what a little bit of coloring and a few leaves can create.

NATURE CROWN
Supplies:

• Cardstock paper or poster board (or any thicker type of paper)
• Staples or tape
• Scissors or craft knife

Steps:
1. Wrap the paper around the child’s head to measure.

2. Cut the paper as needed to make sure it fits on the child's head.

HINT: If you have two children of similar size, you can get two crowns out of one standard piece of card stock paper.

3. Tape or staple the two sides of the rectangle shape to form the crown.

4. Using scissors make slits in various sides of the crown that will be holders.

5. Have the children place whatever item they find in nature in their crown.

OPTIONAL: Tape the inside of the crown once it is filled as desired by the child. This keeps the leave stems or other ends from bothering the child's head when they wear their crown.

LEAF RUBBINGS
Supplies:

• Leaves (works best with various types and/or sizes)
• Crayons (unwrapped crayons used sideways can be easier for little ones)
• Thinner paper (such as manila colored construction paper or even copy paper)

Steps:

1. Pick up several leaves. Encourage variety in size or type.

2. Arrange the leaves on the table for the child to place their paper over.

HINT: You can either make sure the leaves fit under the paper or leave them scattered, which can make an even more creative design by having certain leaves with only partial rubbings on the edges of the paper. Also you can get a neat look by leaves being overlapped slightly.

3. Rub the side of a crayon over the paper. Encourage variety in the colors.

VARIATION: They may use one color on one section of the paper or even part of a leaf and then switch.



Here are some of our beautiful leaf rubbings done by children of all ages.

Melissa Boehling | Contributor

We hope you are able to enjoy these crafts and some great fall walks with your and yours.

Melissa Boehling is owner and primary provider for Starry Night Child Care, IT consultant as well a mother of a 7-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter. When she's not busy with all of that, she tries to help raise awareness and fundraise for the March of Dimes in loving honor of her twin sons that passed in 2002 from TTTS/premature birth.