Fall Leaves Tracing Activity
/As we continue to live a majority our lives online, we’ve been looking for more ways to take our family time outdoors. Brainstorming new outdoor activities for my boys always starts with me reflecting on my own childhood memories for inspiration. With the beginning signs of fall starting to show, I can’t help but think of all the fall activities I loved as a kid. My favorite one, year after year, was tracing all the different colored leaves I could find.
All I needed to recreate the leaves I spent my afternoons collecting was a piece of parchment paper and a pencil. As an adult, I understand the leaf rubbing process, but as a child, I was fascinated watching my drawing appear almost like magic.
I wanted to share this simple, fun activity because it really is so much more than it appears. Not only is it a fun art project to do with your kids, but it also sets the scene for you to teach them about the signs of changing seasons. It’s an art and science lesson wrapped into one!
All you’ll need is some paper and a writing instrument. You can get creative with the tools you use! For paper, you can choose from parchment paper, tracing paper, or wax paper. For writing, you can use colored pencils, crayons, or a regular pencil.
Steps:
Have your kids explore their yard or their neighborhood and collect leaves
Once you have your leaves, gather your art supplies
This step isn’t necessary, but, for stability, you can tape the leaves to your drawing space, so they won’t move around as much
Place your leaf in the center of your writing space and cover it with your paper of choice
Slowly rub your writing tool over the top of the paper and watch the tracing of the leaf appear!
Feel free to mix and match your paper types and writing tools. This activity can also be repeated multiple times so your kids can see the different colors the leaves change into throughout the stages of fall. If you want to take the educational aspect of this activity further, here are a few book recommendations to get your kids thinking about the science behind the seasons and recognizing other signs of fall:
Written by Ngoc Nguyen Lay, Head Rascal. Mother of two rascals, ages 5 and 7.
