Fall Leaf Rubbing Activity

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It is amazing how many kids have never done a fall leaf rubbing before. My mother in-law is always commenting how many kids she comes across in her job that have never done it before. She is a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant like myself and also works for the same company that I use to work for, in the public schools.

Leaf rubbing is such an easy and also creative way to keep memories of the beautiful fall leaves without having to keep a bunch of dry and crackling leaves in your house. There are a lot of great fine motor skills being practiced too with this activity.

What You Need for Leaf Rubbing Activity

• Various Leaves (I picked ones up off the ground, not off of trees)
• Large, heavy book
• Plain, white paper
• Colored Pencils
• Scrapbook Paper or Construction Paper
• Tape or Glue Dots
• Glue (Optional)

Directions

1. Gather your fall leaves and get a large heavy book
2. Place all the leaves into the book, leaving a few pages between each leaf
3. Close the book and either place it back into a bookcase or set another heavy object on top of it so that the leaves will be flat – let them flatten overnight.
4. The next day take all your leaves out of your book and place them in a collage on a plain, thin piece of white paper.
5. Take another sheet of white paper and place it over the leaves.
6. Use colored pencils to color over each leaf, using different colors as desired. (Tip – remember not to press too hard or you won’t see the details of the leaf well).
7. Once all the leaves have been colored over, take your paper off of the top and discard the leaves (or you could use them for another activity!)
8. Cut out around the leaves so that the paper is small enough to be placed on a colored piece of paper.
9. Take pieces of masking tape or glue dots and place them on the back of the fall leaf collage.
10. Press the collage onto a piece of construction paper or scrapbook paper and hang it for decoration.

Here are all the leaves I placed into the large book the night before. I just placed it in the bookshelf over night. The last picture on the bottom right is what they looked like the next day.

Fine Motor Skills Used in Leaf Rubbing Activity

• Bilateral Coordination
• Muscle Grading (ability to press harder or softer through the pencil while coloring)
• Good Pencil Grasp (age appropriate grasps)
• Hand strength and endurance

And the finished result! I hung this on our fridge when I was done. You could use it to decorate any part of your house for fall. You could also frame it and display it in your child’s art work area or Montessori area of your home if you follow Montessori style learning.

You can find the rest of my posts in this 10 Days of Fall Fine Motor & Sensory Activities for Children Series by clicking HERE.