Leaf Art Projects

Getting our kids out into nature is always an incredible learning opportunity and the perfect way to experience all of the beauty that comes with the seasons. Today we are going to capture that beauty with some Leaf Art Projects which opens the door to some fascinating science lessons about the parts of the leaf and what exactly leaves do for the trees. The best part is that you can do this project at any time of the year, as long as there are leaves on the trees!

Leaf Art and Science for Kids

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The first thing we need to do when creating leaf art is to gather up leaves. Lots and lots of leaves! The best way to do this is to take a nature walk, somewhere that has a nice variety of trees, bushes and plants. Then really pay attention to all of the different sizes and shapes and colors of the leaves on different plants.

Educational Additions – Vocab and Sensory

To add in some vocabulary and sensory to your Leaf Art projects, ask students to use their sense of touch to explore the leaf, then describe the leaf. Is it fuzzy or smooth? Is it large or small? Shiny or matte? Is it thick or thin? What other descriptors can they use to describe the different leaves they find?

Leaves play a really important role in helping plants grow! So what’s the best way to learn all about leaves? I always say it’s hands-on learning is what really sticks with kids in the end. 

To start, let’s create some cool leaf art.  I have a couple of different techniques depending on how old the kids are and how messy you might want the project (although neither is really messy, just messy enough for fun learning that kids love). 

Leaf Art Rubbings

This is an easy and fun project that you can do with all age groups with just a few simple materials that you more than likely have on hand – you know I love low prep projects!

Materials

• Leaves (try to find a variety of shapes and sizes)
• Crayons or colored pencils (I like crayons best but either work)
• White paper

Directions

Take the kids outdoors and collect a bunch of different leaves. Try to gather leaves from different trees, bushes, or plants. Make sure to keep your eye out for leaves with interesting shapes, sizes, veins, and textures. Those details make exceptional art rubbings.

Educational Additions – Plant Identification

To add to the scientific investigation part of this project, you can have students place the leaves in envelopes and on the outside of the envelope write down what type of plant the leaf came from. If you are unsure of the species try using a plant identification app. These apps are fantastic at helping identify native plants in your area. Just make sure the app includes plants for your area, as many are location specific. Don’t have an app? Look for a book on native plants in your region.

Once you get back home or to your classroom, grab a piece of paper, you’ll want to be sure it’s not too thick or it will be hard to pick up the texture. Regular copy paper is perfect for this project.  

Place your leaf bottom side up under the sheet of paper. When we say bottom, we are talking about the lumpy, bumpy part of the leaf that faces the ground. The top of leaves is usually much smoother and doesn’t take rubbings as nicely. But feel free to try both!

Use your crayon or colored pencil to gently rub back and forth over the parts where your leaf is. Do not press hard. The key is to just lightly rub the crayon across the paper over the leaf.  As the students start to go over the leaf they will see the veins and stem pop out at them.  This is called a leaf rubbing.

You can put this on repeat for all of the different kinds of leaves you collected. Change your colors  and let the kids get a little artsy. What happens if they layer their leaves? Or flip over their leaves and try rubbing the other side?

Leaf Art Prints

Leaf prints are a fun project too, but the paint can get a little messy. You know your kids best, so you can decide what ages you would like to do this with. 

Materials

• Leaves (try to find a variety of shapes and sizes)
• Acrylic Paints in fun colors – or fall colors!
• Paint Brushes
• Wax Paper
• White paper
• Paint tray or use a paper plate or egg carton or container lid

Directions

Lay out a piece of wax paper and a piece of white paper next to each other. 

Squeeze some paint out onto your paint tray so it is easy to reach. 

Lay your leaf vein side up onto the wax paper and carefully paint an even layer of paint onto the leaf. Don’t paint it too thick or too thin, you want a nice even coating of paint on the leaf to get the most clean and detailed print. You can play with this until your kids perfect it.  

Carefully pick the leaf up by the stem and flip it over paint side down onto your white paper.

While holding it in place with one hand, gently rub a finger over all the parts of the leaf pressing it gently into the paper.  

Once you’ve smoothed over all parts of the leaf and stem gently peel it up and remove it from the paper.  You’ll see an imprint of the leaf and all of the veins on the paper. 

Have them try with more than one leaf layering different colors to create a pretty fall collage.

Build a Fall Wreath

Another leaf crafting activity that is perfect for Fall is to make a wreath. Learn more about this leaf crafting idea here.

Leaf Science Lesson

These aren’t just fun projects.  They give you a close-up look at the unique features of each leaf. The texture and pattern you see in your rubbings and prints are made up of the leaf’s veins, which are important for keeping the leaf alive and healthy.

What are the Parts of a Leaf?

There are so many leaves on trees and bushes and flowers, they must provide a very important function for the plants. Ask your students what they think leaves are for and what purpose they serve.

Now let’s dig in a bit and learn about the different parts of a leaf and why they are important to the tree or plant.

• Blade: This is the flat, green part of the leaf. It’s where the leaf absorbs sunlight and uses photosynthesis to make food for the tree.
• Veins: Just like we have veins you can see – leaves have them too! These are the lines you see running through the leaf. They carry water and nutrients to the different parts of the leaf. They also help support the leaf’s structure and shape. 
• Petiole: The small stalk that attaches the leaf to the tree branch or stem. It holds the leaf in place so it can catch sunlight.
• Margin: This is the edge of the leaf, and it can be smooth, jagged, or even wavy.

Can you find all of these parts on the leaves you collected?  A good way to have kids really be able to identify these parts is to draw the leaf they see and to label the parts! How do you draw a leaf?  Work from the stem outward.  Make each side of the leaf match the other, use the leaves you collect as reference as they work.  Understanding the parts of a leaf helps us appreciate how each one plays a role in helping the tree grow and thrive.

Plant Cells

Plants are made up of cells, just like animals, but did you know plant cells are different from animal cells? You can learn more about Plant Cells with two great resources.

First, you can use our Cells Lesson Pack for a printable project with your kids.

Next, build Cell Models to discover how plant and animal cells differ with our Build a Cell Model project.

Different Types of Leaves

Did you know there are different types of leaves? There are lots of different types of leaves and the leaf can tell us about the plant it comes from.  

Common Leaf Types

• Simple Leaves: These leaves have a single, undivided blade. Examples include maple and oak leaves. They have a strong central vein and are easy to recognize by their broad, flat shape.
• Compound Leaves: These leaves are made up of smaller leaflets all attached to a single stem. Examples include leaves from ash and hickory trees. Compound leaves are more delicate and look kind of feathery.
• Needle-Like Leaves: These leaves are long and thin, like the needles on a pine tree. Needle-like leaves help the tree survive in colder climates by reducing water loss.

What Does a Leaf Do for a Tree?

So other than looking pretty, what do leaves actually do?  Their most important job is to turn sunlight into energy for the tree to keep it healthy and let it grow big and strong.  

Here’s how it works:

1. The leaf pulls in the sunlight using its green pigment (chlorophyll).
2. Then it pulls in carbon dioxide from the air through stomata or tiny openings in the surface of the leaves. .
3. The tree uses its deep roots to absorb water from the ground and pulls it up the tree trunk to the leaves.
4. Then the razzle dazzle – the leaf uses the sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water to create glucose which is food for the tree.  
5. When it’s done it gives off Oxygen into the air—so leaves are not only helping trees eat, but they’re helping us live too!

Without leaves, trees wouldn’t be able to make the food they need to survive, or produce the oxygen we need to survive. So next time you see a leaf, remember that it’s doing some pretty amazing work!

Learn More About Leaves

If you want to learn more about leaves and trees, check out the book Tell Me, Tree: All About Trees for Kids by Gail Gibbons. It’s a great book that teaches all about the parts of a tree, different types of trees, and the important roles trees play in our environment. 

For more fun Leaf Art, try making Cyanotype Leaf Art. This is a fantastic way to use sunlight and chemistry to make beautiful works of art.

Dig into the science of leaves even more, by learning about how leaves change color in the fall with this cool STEAM project Leaf Lab. Students use leaves to make chromatography that shows the natural leaf color changes. This is the perfect fall leaf art lab.

Combining art and science is sure to drive home how important leaves are to the trees and to us!!