Objective:
The students will create a picture using leaves.

Materials

• The leaves the students brought from home.

• Paper

• Glue

• Colored pencils, crayons, markers, and/or paint

• Look What I Did with a Leaf! by Morteza E. Sohi, if available.

Procedure

1. Observe and discuss the different colors and shapes of the leaves brought in by the students.  

2. If available, share the pictures from the book Look What I did with a Leaf! by Morteza E. Sohi.  These will serve as great inspiration.

3. Instruct the students to create a picture using their leaves as a basis.  They will then use their chosen medium (crayons, paint, etc.) to  make their art work.  For example, a student may glue one of their leaves down and turn it into a boat by adding a sail and some water with his/her crayons.  Another student may make "Leaf People" or turn a maple leaf into a lion.  The students should be encouraged to be as creative as possible.

Other Lesson Ideas

1. Create collages of leaf rubbings.

2. Make mobiles using leaves, string, and hangers.

3. The following activity will emphasize the point of colorful leaf pigments always being present in leaves.  The strong presence of chlorophyll in the summer months masks these other pigments.  Therefore, have the students color a leaf shape with crayons as hard as possible.  They should use Fall colors, such as reds, yellows, and oranges.  Once the leaves are fully colored in, have the students paint over the leaves with green tempera paint.  Liken the paint to chlorophyll.  When the paint dries, have the students scrape it off using a coin to reveal the fall colors hidden underneath.  As an alternative to the paint, have the students trace their leaf shape onto green construction paper.  The green paper can be attached to the Fall Colored Leaf with tape or staples to create a flap.  The flap can easily be lifted up to reveal the fall colors underneath.

4. Create a tree trunk and branches out of brown butcher paper.  A three dimensional tree can be created by twisting the paper.  The students may then create fall leaves to attach to the tree branches.  The leaves can be made from construction paper or crayons drawn on white paper.