I had tried to interest my kids in a leaf rubbing activity for a while to no avail. Then I put together a cute little booklet and paired it with some special, triangle-shaped crayons, and suddenly they were hooked. Who knew?!?
A leaf rubbing activity is a great way to combine science and fine motor skills into one fun little project. I set up this invitation to do leaf rubbings with the following materials:
- Basket with cover pages and blank pages to make their own leaf rubbings books (see link at end of post to get your free copy of the Leaf Rubbings Book)
- Triangle-shaped crayons (we purchased these ones from P’Kolino, but I these triangular crayons from Crayola also look good)
- Basket of leaves (I used leaves we had preserved in glycerin, but you can use fresh leaves as well)
I showed my kids how to place a leaf under the paper and use the crayon to create a rubbing of it.
It was tricky for my kids to hold the paper still over the leaf in order to get a good rubbing, but they did manage to do it (with a bit of help).
Once they had made their leaf rubbings, they put the pages together, added a cover, and created their leaf rubbings books.
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More resources for learning about leaves
More leaf posts from Gift of Curiosity:
- The best way to preserve leaves
- Leaf anatomy
- How leaves “breathe”: A transpiration demonstration
- How leaves get water
- How and why leaves change color in the fall
- Leaf collages art project
- Leaf rubbings activity book
- Fall leaves Sudoku
- Fall leaves lacing cards
For more leaf activities, see my Botany Unit Study page and my Leaves Unit Study Pinterest board.
Follow Katie @ Gift of Curiosity’s board Unit Ideas: Leaves on Pinterest.
Great idea. I really like it!!!
I do leaf rubbings every year, it’s one of my favorites, but I love the idea of putting them into a book. I think for my pre-kinders I’m going to have them either write the name of the leaf or the color they used. Thank you!