A Favorite Fall Activity

This is an activity that I probably enjoy even more than my children. This simple box was made a few years back when my son still was schooling with us. It's just a simple thin wooden craft box and we got the idea to paint it various shades of green, more with a bristle stencil brush effect, but use real leaves for our stencil patterns. We continue to take it out each fall to use in our studies of leaf/tree classification. In effect over time, it has replaced our need for local area field guides. I still love the Fandex Field Guide, as it seems the most realistic and visual for children as well as adults that have this never ending love of trees.

Consequently, every fall my daughters collect leaves and we some times go on nature walks to find as many varieties as possible. We mount them on large index cards under a special contact paper and then classify them and give facts on the other side of the card. The girls use these for enjoyment as we just simply love to look at them, as well as quizzing one another on facts about them. To me, it has become a special memory and tradition for the season.