I'm always jealous of people who live in climates that are more mild during the winter (I don't enjoy cold much any more). However, one of the things I love about our climate is the wonderful colors that we see during the autumn. Since we are surrounded by mountains, it is a lovely site to see. We live at the base of a mountain and it is amazing to watch it change daily. I remember all of the fall activities that I did in the classroom using those leaves.
- Gluing leaves on pictures to represent the autumn
- Placing larger leaves under thin paper and doing leaf rubbings with the side of a peeled crayon
- Having the children replicate the colors of the leaves by color mixing
- Laminating leaves for use in the science center
- Looking at the leaves under a magnifying glass or microscope
- Leaf glitter (finely crumbled leaves glued on projects)
I remember when another teacher told me about leaf glitter. I laughed thinking it was a weak idea. Then I watched what happened when I crumbled leaves and allowed the children to use the crumbs just like they would use glitter. They were thrilled and we had to continually make more! Who knew such a simple idea would be such a hit. The biggest plus was that it was so much easier to clean up than regular glitter.
Those of you who are surrounded by the colors of autumn and work with young children, make the most of this time of year. For those of you who live where leaves don't do much changing, I'm sorry. You can give me a rough time during the winter when you are having a picnic.