Dear Reader,
I had so much fun with this activity! Really, I broke it into 2 activities for my short-attentioned daughter, but I’m posting it as one. If you feel like it’s too large for your kid to do all at once, it is definitely okay to do little bits and come back to it.
To get started I found a good leaf shaped template online (I used 2 different shapes of the bigger size found here) and drew the heart shaped one myself because the heart leaves at the link I got the others from were in between the size I wanted. Flatten the stack of however many filters you want (just use your hands, they will definitely still be bowl-shaped, just not as defined), pull off the top filter and set it on the template. You’ll easily see the template through the filter, so trace it. Then put it back on the stack (the closer to the same direction the better. I noticed that if you’re close to the same direction, it slips less when you cut it out), and cut the whole stack at once, watching to make sure the top filter doesn’t slip too much.
Then I pulled out my markers. Normally, I stand behind the Crayola-is-best mentality (seriously, I’ve purchased enough art supplies to know the difference. And no, I’m not being endorsed by any companies), but for this activity I felt like cheaper was better. And newer was better. And washable was crucial. And, in the bigger pack (20 markers) of cra-z-art, there were so many good fall colors! So, I got new, cheap marketers. And they worked great.
The next step is easy: let your preschooler color the leaves! You’re going to want a regular piece of paper under the coffee filter if you value your table, the filters are too thin on their own, and the markers bleed through. You need the whole leaf colored! This stack is *not* colored enough! For some kids, I’m sure they color every square inch. If your kid is one of those, great. You don’t quite need that much, but good for them. If your kid has no patience for coloring (like mine), send them to go play and then scribble on the leaves some more. Really, you can definitely have white space, but I have found that the ideal coloring is about 1/4″ between squiggle lines and no more than 1/2″ between colors. If you look at the green peeking through on the bottom, that was me adding more color, just to give you the idea. I personally would err on the side of too little coloring until you get the hang of it.
Next, get a pan or some kind of flat surface with a lip. We used an 8×8 glass cake pan. It worked really well. You’ll also need medicine droppers and a cup of water. Place a leaf in the pan, and hand the dropper to your kiddo. Try to convince them to go slow (yeah right) and only drip 1 drop of water at a time. This is a great activity to work on pincer control (not just pincer grasp), as they will be focusing more on grading the strength needed to drip only the right amount of water. It also requires concentration skills, which my preschooler struggles with, so it was a great guided exercise for that, as well.
Once the leaf has enough water, let it sit for a few seconds so that the colors can blend. Then carefully remove it and set it on a rolked-out sheet if plastic wrap. I was afraid to use tweezers because I didn’t want to rip it (it is paper, after all), but honestly, the filters are pretty durable when wet, and my fingers were covered in ink after the first leaf. If you don’t trust tweezers, a latex gloves would have been great.
*Don’t wipe off the pan/bowl/flat dish!* Save the colored water already in the pan and add the next leaf. When the leaves start looking a little muddy (about the 4th leaf, for us) then wipe it out with a paper towel and start fresh.
They don’t take long to dry! Relatively, I mean. It was still an hour, I would guess, but regular paper would have taken much longer.
When they’re all dry, take your leaves and a school glue stick to the window you want to decorate. Put the school glue stick on the leaves and stick them on! I was actually surprised to learn how easy that is! When I tested it on my windows, the leaves peel off just fine and don’t even rip the filter! I am definitely going to remember that in the future.
