Make Leaf and Bark Rubbings
Observing trees offers opportunities to learn about the many roles they play in nature. Look for animals in the tree. They may be using it for shelter or as a place to find food. Do you see moss growing in areas where the tree casts a shadow? Mosses like shady places.
There are many different species of trees, each with their own unique features. Encourage your child to explore the trees they see by feeling the bark. Does it feel smooth like paper or bumpy? Look at different leaf shapes and help your child to draw comparisons to shapes they know. Are the leaves pointy like triangles or round like circles? Then make leaf and bark rubbings together and play a matching game.
Materials
Directions
Find some trees: Take some blank paper, masking tape (optional), and crayons outside. Look for several trees with different types of bark and leaves.
Feel the bark: Close your eyes and feel the bark of the trees. How does it feel? Which one is the smoothest? The roughest?
Make a bark rubbing: Use tape to hold a piece of paper on the trunk or hold the paper tightly. Lightly rub a crayon horizontally over the surface of the paper on the bark, just hard enough so that the bark’s texture shows on the paper. Do this to other trees and compare the rubbings.
Make a leaf rubbing: Collect some leaves from different trees. Close your eyes and feel the leaves. How do they feel? Make leaf rubbings by putting the leaf on a piece of cardboard or a clipboard, covering it with the paper, and rubbing the crayon over it.
Make a matching game: Once you’ve made several leaf and bark rubbings, play a matching game with them. Mix them up and see if you can match which leaf rubbing goes with which bark rubbing. Or using the leaves you collected, see if you can remember which leaf you used to create each different leaf rubbing.
Explore Further
Continue the learning by helping your child identify the trees they explored through leaf and bark rubbings. Encourage your child to search for information at a local library or online by looking up different leaf shapes. Learn together about what makes each leaf different and which trees they belong to. As you and your child notice more trees, continue to point out the shapes, sizes, and colors of the leaves you see.
Want more “Nature Cat” activities? Check out the Create a Natural Toolbox activity and the Make a Wild Bee Motel craft to continue the fun!
Photography by Nikki Brooks.
Arts