Leaf Activities for Kids

Fall is right around the corner in the northern part of the world, which means it’s time for activities using leaves and learning about leaves. Here are some go-to activities and printables for fall that allow you to bring leaves into the classroom.

Of course you’ll want to start with a nature walk to gather some leaves. Then you can sort them by color with these printable cards from KC Edventures, or use the cards from Preschool Powol Packets to identify the kinds of leaves you’ve found.

Try matching leaves you find with other, similar leaves, like this activity from Schooltime Snippets. (It also includes other activities inspired by the book Leaf Man, which are lots of fun.)

You’ll also want to learn about the parts of a leaf with these resources collected by Gift of Curiosity, and try this activity that’s from the same blog exploring how leaves get water.

You can use some of your leaves to make bookmarks, as in this activity from Mommy Evolution. Or use your leaves for cutting practice or punching holes; both ideas are from the OT Toolbox.

And if you’ve got a yard or a playground full of leaves, you can make yourself a leaf maze or labyrinth for kids to explore. This idea is from Happy Hooligans.

Make sure you preserve some of those leaves for other crafts through the season or to decorate your Thanksgiving table. Red Ted Art has a rundown of the best methods for leaf preservation.

Get a full Montessori-inspired, leaf-related set of activities from Mama’s Happy Hive, which includes activities using real leaves as well as leaf shapes.

And if you don’t have any leaves you can use these printables to do a leaf shadow matching activity from Tot Schooling. Or make a roll and count fall leaves activity like this one from l (make felt leaves or punch shapes out of real leave if you don’t have leaf scatter to use).

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Leaf Learning Activities for Kids

Whenever you go to the beach with kids, you’re sure to come home with some seashells and more than a little sand. Let’s use some of those treasures to make fun crafts.

This handprint craft is made with a sand-infused salt dough and some little shells from the beach. It’s a cute way to remember how little your kids were on that beach trip. Find the instructions at From Under a Palm Tree.

Here’s another take on sand dough that was used to make little ornaments and sculptures. Get the details from Pink Stripey Socks.

Moms and Crafters used air dry clay and seashells to make these cute necklaces. She used the storebought clay but you can also make your own air dry clay if you’d rather.

Crafts on Sea used a shell to make a whale, but I’m sure you could take this idea and make lots of different creatures. I love the idea of sea creatures made with shells like fish or a jellyfish or an octopus using the same method. They also have a seashell decoration made with salt dough that’s really cute and would be fun for kids to paint. Poke a hole before it dries for hanging if you want.

Or take a bunch of little shells and decorate a frame like these from Rhythms of Play. They used a handprint instead of a picture but you could also put in a picture from the beach trip.

This is probably one for the mamas to make because it uses epoxy, but I also wanted to share these cute and easy shell hair pins from Thrifty Mama Ramblings, which kids are sure to want for their mermaid pretend play.

Or how about some sensory play straight from the beach? Use store bought sand if you don’t have a beach nearby to make this beach sand slime from The Mama Notes. Thrown in some shells and kids will love playing with this one.

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