Make Leaf-Imprinted Ornaments
Beautiful nature is all around us — even in cooler weather when many plants and trees lose their leaves. These hand-pressed pieces of art are sure to “leaf” an impression on kids and inspire an appreciation of nature all year long.
Materials
Directions
Go outside and gather leaves! This is a great opportunity to talk with your child about the different sizes, shapes and colors of leaves in your area.
Make the salt dough. Mix the salt, flour, and water together with an electric mixer until a smooth dough forms.
Help your child use a rolling pin to flatten the dough onto parchment paper until it’s about 1/2 inch thick.
Have your child use cookie cutters to create the shapes of the ornaments. Poke a hole with a pencil near the top. Have her press evergreen leaves into the center of the ornament and then remove, leaving the leaf impression (or print).
Place the ornaments on a parchment-paper-lined cookie sheet and bake them in the oven at 250°F for approximately 3 hours, checking occasionally.
After the ornaments have cooled, thread the string through the hole at the top and tie to create a hanger!
Explore Further
Leaves are a great way to talk with kids about what happens as the seasons change. What do leaves in your area look like in each season? Are there plants that don’t lose their leaves in winter? This is a tricky question. Evergreen plants continue producing leaves all year long, so even though they still lose their leaves, It looks as if they don’t. Plants and trees that lose their leaves in the winter without growing new ones are called deciduous. What kinds of plants and trees outside do you think are evergreen? Which are deciduous? How can you tell?
Science
Arts