Sticky Leaf Collage is a great activity for preschool children. It encourages them to collect leaves, discuss what kind of trees the leaves come from, create a composition, and preserve their leaves in a viewing sleeve. The collage can late be used as a placemat or window display.
California has been hit by a heat wave, so staying inside our hot cave of a house is barely an option. Despite the heat, there’s a lot of fall madness in the air — you can’t miss the mountain of gourds and pumpkins piled up at the markets, leaves are turning colors, and my favorite…spiced pumpkin lattes in the coffee shops. Mmmmm…
Supplies
- Clear Contact Paper (affiliate)
- Leaves
Steps: Preschool Leaf Collage
- Collect Leaves
- Name them and discuss what you found
- Cut two identical sheets of clear contact paper
- Attach the leaves to sticky side of contact paper
- Place another sheet of contact paper on top to seal the leaves in
- Display your collage if you’d like
We began by pulling out some clear contact paper. I encouraged my daughter to feel its tackiness, and then we discussed the process of collecting leaves and sticking them to the paper. We found an Easter basket (wrong season, I know!) and then took a walk around the neighborhood in search of leaves and other flat-ish treasures. This, by the way, is how we landed on a lemonade stand, so it pays to get out of the house!
After collecting (and naming!) the leaves, N stuck them on half a sheet of contact paper (sticky-side up).
She filled in most of the spaces…good for understanding spatial relationships!
And then we smooshed the other half of the contact paper on top of the leaves. This was followed by two more walks around the neighborhood and two more collages. In our books, this activity was a hit.
When we finally came inside, contact collaging continued with magazine cut-outs, post-its, and googley eyes.
Resources
Identification guide for kids: New England leaves
Nature Detective Leaf Identification Sheet: UK
Leaf Identification Activities
More Art Projects for Toddlers
For more toddler art projects, you may enjoy the easy-to-set-up activities that use mainly everyday materials in 12 Simple Art Projects for Toddlers.
What a fun outing….you were collecting at the same time we were collecting to send to you. N has such a wonderful attention span. I think this happens because you have aimed these projects in a way that is successful for her. Good work, Mom
Oooh, a present! We can’t wait to make some art with New England treasures.
Such a pleasure to see your lovely open concept of art with children.
And leaves are such lovely materials….
Thank you for what you do.
I hope you readers will visit my website (anniversary special going on!)
http://www.brightring.com
and my new blog
http://maryannfkohl.typepad.com/blog/
There are some giveaways of my books on other blogs, but I’ve lost track. Try an internet search. I’ll do a big give away in November for my 25th Anniversary too.
MaryAnn
Hi MaryAnn, I love your books (heck, I own four of them!) and wholeheartedly recommend them to anyone looking for process-based art activities that kids are sure to enjoy.
Thanks so much for this great project! Adam had such a fun time collecting leaves and putting them on the contact paper. We didn’t have clear contact paper at home, only white ones. So I ended up putting clear saran wrap on top of the contact paper to “seal” the leaves in. Worked great. Can’t wait to do this project again. Thanks!
diana — you are so resourceful! i wouldn’t have thought of using saran wrap, and love that you’ve shared that. definitely a good way to go if that’s all you have on hand.
[…] Leaf Collages. If you have access to leaves, I have two really easy projects for you that you can do right away. Try the Tree Trunk Leaf Collage or Contact Paper Autumn Collage. […]
[…] Set up a Leaf Collage Project for your Preschooler: I have two really easy projects for you that you can do right away. Try the Tree Trunk Leaf Collage or Contact Paper Autumn Collage. […]
[…] Set up a Leaf Collage Project for your Preschooler: I have two really easy projects for you that you can do right away. Try the Tree Trunk Leaf Collage or Contact Paper Autumn Collage. […]