Seven New and Simple Leaf Activities for Preschoolers

What can you do with all those leaves? Here’s seven leaf activities for preschoolers.

As you may know already (if you follow me on the socials), we love, LOVE exploring nature! You may also know just how much we love fun sensory and art related activities that we can do at home. In fact, many of the activities we love so much are those that combine the loot we collect when we are out exploring and adventuring away from home with the sensory and/or art activities we do while at home. In particular, with our leaf loot, we’ve done so much. This list is just a handful of what has become my son’s personal favorites. Check out these leaf loot activities for toddler and preschoolers.

From Nature Walks to Leaf Activities for Preshcoolers

So, without further ado, I present you with some fresh new and simple leaf activities for preschoolers. These are all activities you can do when your little one brings home a fresh new pile of leaves. And what’s really special about these activities is that none of them are seasonal! In other words, you can complete each of these activities whether it is fall, spring, or summer (and maybe even winter depending on your location).

Check out these activities below.

Here’s you Seven Leaf Activities for Preschoolers

Painted Leaves

• When you return back home, set up a corner of your patio area: (a) Lay down a painter’s tarp or plastic tablecloth. (b) Create a painter’s palette using a paper plate, and 3-8 colors of paint. We love tempera paint, but if you want something more permanent, acrylic paints work well under supervision. (c) Supply some paint brushes. I love giving a variety of brush sizes and will typically include a couple foam brushes too. (d) Always provide a cup of water and a few paper towels for rinsing, drying, and general clean up.
• If you feel it is necessary, and the leaves are in relatively good condition, you may decide to carefully wash them in water before the painting begins. However, if you do wash them, leave time for them to dry completely before painting.
• Establish the rules: (a) Paint stays on the tarp. (b) One brush for each color. (c) Rinse brushes in water and dry them with paper towel before dipping into new paint, (d) Tell me when you are done. Note that these rules are my general rules, but you know your child best, so decide on the rules that you know your child needs.
• Allow your child to paint as creatively as he or she wishes.
• Set the leaves out to dry.
• Choose your method of displaying the painted leaves if you wish.

Leaf Rubbings and Then Some

1. On your next walk around the neighborhood or through the park, collect some leaves of different sizes, shapes, and colors. Note that the best leaves for this activity will be freshly fallen leaves that are not yet fully dead. They should be able to flex and move without crumbling.
2. When you bring your leaves back home, gather your materials: (a) Leaves. (b) A thin sheet of paper (printer paper does work well for this activity). (c) Crayons, preferably wax crayons.
3. Place a leaf under your paper. Placing the leaf upside down so that the veins are facing upward towards the paper will give you the best rubbing.
4. Now, holding the paper over the leaf securely, use a crayon and color over the entire area where the leaf is located.
5. Repeat the process until you have completed all the rubbings you desire with each of the leaves, and using a variety of colors.
6. For continued creative fun, assist your preschooler in cutting the leaf rubbing out.
7. Draw tree trunk with bare branches.
8. Provide some glue for your preschooler and let him/her glue the leaf rubbing onto the tree.
9. Display your preschooler’s artwork.

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Leaf Watercolor

Watercolor Leaves on Water Diffusing Paper

1. Using dry watercolor paints, water, and water diffusing paper (I love the leaf patterns from Lakeshore Learning Center), allow you preschooler to paint.
2. Your child can use small bit of water to wet the paints. Then paint on the leaf as normal.
3. Once your child is satisfied with the masterpiece, allow him/her to use a spray bottle to mist water over the leaf.
4. Watch the colors move and dance across the leaf.
5. Adjust and modify paint colors as desired.
6. Set out to dry.

Watercolor Leaf Rubbings

1. Follow steps 1-5 of the above Leaf Rubbings and Then Some activity, but only use a white wax crayon for the rubbings.
2. Now give your preschooler a palette of 3-5 colors of watercolor paint, a little water, and a few paint brushes.
3. Let your preschooler paint freely over the rubbings and watch the leaf patterns come to life.
4. Display your child’s artwork.
5. Once dry, you can also complete steps 6-8 from the Leaf Rubbings and Then Some activity above.

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Check this out!

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Check out the rest of these leaf activities for preschoolers below…

Leaf Tracings

I love tracing activities! Learning to hold a pencil, hold a leaf securely in place, and trace around that leaf is great practice for preschoolers in building fine motor skills.

1. On your next walk around the neighborhood or through the park, collect some leaves of different sizes, shapes, and colors.
2. At home, provide your toddler with some paper of choice, and a full length pencil.
3. If needed, demonstrate the act of holding the leaf securely on the paper, holding the pencil, and tracing around the full leaf. Show you preschooler how to occasionally and carefully move his/her hand over the leaf without moving the leaf.
4. Help your child as needed, but allow time for him/her to practice tracing the leaves you collected.
5. Once your child is done, provide a brown or green marker and allow your child to trace the pencil lines around the leaves. Then let you preschooler color each of the leaves as desired.
6. You can cut them out and follow steps 6-9 of the Leaf Rubbings and Then Some activity above. Or you can cut them out and create a leaf garland, (see below). Or create your own fun and original masterpiece with the tracings.

Spring Leaf Garland or an Autumn Leaf Garland

1. You can use your leaves from the Leaf Tracings, Leaf Watercolor, or Leaf Rubbings activity to create your garland.
2. Or you can take a nature walk, collect a fresh new batch of leaves, and preserve them before creating your garland. There are two ways to preserve leaves that work very well for making a leaf garland. I have outlined in another blog post. Click here to read.
3. Once your leaves have been preserved, you will be punching two holes through each leaf. Those two holes will go on the right edge, and the left edge of the leaf.
   • Note that because the garland will be hung, the weight of the leaves could cause tearing at the edges where the holes are punched. To strengthen the edges, you can either place a small piece of clear scotch tape on the edges where you plan to punch your holes. The tape should go around the front edge and fold over to the back too. Once you have taped all your leaves, you can punch your holes in through the tape and leaves.
   • Another way you can secure your edges where you punch your holes is by using adhesive hole reinforcement labels on both the front and the back of each hole. You can place them on after all your holes have been punched.
4. After punching and reinforcing your holes, you are ready to string the leaves onto your thread. Use a ribbon or jute of your choice. Thread the ribbon through the hole on the left side of each leaf and from front to back. Next, thread the ribbon through the right side of each leaf and from back to front.
5. Carefully slide the leaf over to the end of the ribbon, leaving about 1-2 feet of ribbon on the end for hanging.
6. Repeat this process leaving about 6 inches or so between each leaf.
7. Once all your leaves have been threaded, you may need to make a few adjustments to ensure that each end of the ribbon is about equal.
8. Tie a figure 8 or figure 9 knot at the ends of the ribbon.
9. Hang your garland for a beautiful seasonal decoration.

Here’s the last of this list of leaf activities for preschoolers.

Leaf Sensory Bin

For an Autumn Leaf Sensory Bin:

1. Use white rice as the primary filler.
2. Three to four pinecones are great. Let you child drop a handful of rice over the pinecone and just listen to the sound of the rice falling through the cone’s leaves. Note that you will want to sand the tips of the pinecone if it is a sharp and thorny.
3. Add some whole, shelled nuts. You can even break the shells into halves. Walnuts, acorns, hazelnuts work very well.
4. A couple cinnamon sticks.
5. A little bit of orange peel.
6. Of course, don’t forget your colorful, pressed leaves.

For a Spring Leaf Sensory Bin:

1. Use dry Great Northern Beans, lentils, or Steel cut oats for your filler.
2. A collection of assorted bugs toy bugs such as lady bugs, butterflies, caterpillars, snails. I prefer rubber or eraser bugs, but any plastic or silicone bugs will work too.
3. A few colorful flowers. You can use silk or burlap flowers. Or you can make a few of your own using cardstock, construction paper, glue, and crayons.
4. A couple small toy garden tools.
5. A toy magnifying glass
6. Of course, don’t forget your freshly pressed green leaf collection.

Leaf Sorting

The leaf sort is such a fun activity for preschoolers, and a great opportunity to discuss leaf color, size, shape, texture, and more.

1. On your next walk around the neighborhood or through the park, collect some leaves of different sizes, shapes, colors, and textures.
2. Back home, wipe the leaves clean and dry.
3. Choose a comfy spot in your yard to sit and have your preschooler begin sorting the leaves. You child can sort by color first. Then by size, shape, texture (are their velvety hairs on one side, etc.). For a more complex sorting activity, examine the edges of the leaf and sort by the pattern (smooth or rippled, pointed or rounded, etc.). For an even more complex sorting activity, examine the vein pattern and sort accordingly.

Seven new and simple leaf activities for preschoolers