With the nights drawing in and leaves tumbling, it must be Fall. As a season there are so many things happening and an abundance produced. It’s one of the best seasons for collecting and discovering objects in nature especially since most are tumbling to the ground. This is just the right place for children to find them.  Kids are curious and we all often collect objects as we walk. The problem is what do you do with all these collected items when we get home.

Why not display them in a special area and make a special Fall leaves plate.

Materials

Leaves, White glue, Old plate, spray oil or margarine and paintbrush.

• Collect some Fall leaves that are soft and not dry. Use a smaller plate for small leaves.
• Spray oil on the inside of a plate.
• Paint some glue onto the back of one leaf with a brush. Lay it in the middle of the plate. Glue more leaves on so the leaves go beyond the edge of the plate.

Tip:  You can put dollops of glue on and use the leaf as a spreader

Keep the stems pointing to the center if possible.

Once the plate is completely covered add torn newspaper on top of the leaves without covering the leaves on the edge. Build  two layers or so of paper. Cover the last layer of paper with leaves. The paper will help strengthen the plate.

Lastly, to flatten the leaf plate, find a flat plate/cake base/large circular plastic lid. This is something that won’t leave a mark. Spray it. Lay the flat plate/cake base/large circular plastic lid on top of the leaf plate.  Now, weight the plate down with heavy books/bricks and leave overnight. Peel off the plate in the morning and take away the bottom plate.

Celebrate the Fall by displaying seasonal items all through the season by switching out the display to hold  interest and show off all the weekly finds. Try- acorns, berries, windfall apples, conkers,cones, changing leaves.

The children will be proud of their creation and keen to highlight their discoveries to everyone that comes to the house.