Wax Paper and Contact Paper Leaf Craft Ideas
Autumn Art Activities for Children that Use Fall Leaf Collections
Sep 25, 2008
In the fall, many children become avid collectors of leaves. Each nature walk, or even each trip to and from your car, can add another handful of jewel-toned treasures to the ever-increasing pile in your front hallway.
But what to do with them? It can be tempting to just throw them away. Or, you could make a pressed leaf collection as part of a lesson about why autumn leaves change color. If neither of those possibilities appeals to you, why not try some of the following wax paper (or contact paper) leaf craft ideas?
How to Press Leaves
Help children place their collected leaves between sheets of newspaper. The newspaper will soak up moisture from the leaves. Once you have interspersed layers of leaves and newspaper sheets, place heavy books on the top. Leave the leaves alone for a week or two until they are completely dry and flat.
How to Preserve Pressed Leaves with Wax Paper (or Contact Paper)
Arrange pressed leaves between the shiny sides of two sheets of wax paper. Place a brown paper bag underneath to protect your ironing board. An adult should then press the top sheet of wax paper gently with a warm iron for about ten seconds to melt the wax. Let the paper cool thoroughly.
Alternatively, help your children arrange their pressed leaves between two sheets of clear contact paper. Smooth air bubbles away with a spoon.
Activities for Individual Preserved Leaves
- Autumn Cards: Cut out leaves and glue them onto card stock or folded pieces of colored construction paper to make autumn-themed cards.
- Autumn Garland: Cut out and punch holes in leaves. String leaves together with brightly colored ribbons, string, or yarn. Hang finished garlands across doorways or around the edges of a room's ceiling.
- Autumn Banner: Cut out leaves and glue them onto a length of butcher paper to make a beautiful autumn-themed banner.
- Autumn Table Decorations: Cut out leaves and scatter them on tabletops as decoration.
Activities for Groups of Preserved Leaves
- Autumn Wreath: Arrange leaves in a circle on the wax paper and cut out the final product to hang up as an autumnal wreath.
- Autumn Pictures: Arrange leaves to make pictures of people, animals, or other objects to cut out and use for decorations or play. See the picture books Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert [Harcourt, Inc., 2005], Fall Leaves Fall! by Zoe Hall [Scholastic Press, 2000], and Look What I Did with a Leaf! by Morteza E. Sohi [Walker and Company, 1993] for inspiration.
- Autumn Placemat: Arrange leaves to make a pattern within a set rectangular area and then cut out the rectangle to make an autumn placemat.
Alternate Ideas
- To add extra color and sparkle to your crafts, sprinkle additional materials between the sheets of wax or contact paper before sealing the leaves inside, such as crayon shavings or glitter.
- Use just the wax from the wax paper to preserve individual leaves. Once you have ironed for ten seconds, do not let the paper cool. Instead, right away gently peel the wax paper off of the leaf, which should be left with a preservative coating of wax.
Factors to Consider
Give children plenty of time to play with arrangements of leaves of various shapes, sizes, and colors before sealing the leaves between the sheets of wax or contact paper. For example, have children think about issues such as:
- Do they want to group together leaves that are similar shapes or different shapes? The same size or a range of sizes? Similar colors or contrasting colors?
- Do they want to alternate two colors in a pattern or arrange a line of leaves that shade gently from one color to another or from a darker value of a color to a lighter one?
- Do they want to put spiky-edged leaves next to ones with round, smooth edges?
Use these ideas as a jumping-off point for your children's own explorations with wax paper crafts. Once they get started, they might also make bookmarks, stained glass suncatchers, or hanging ornaments. And once they grow tired of this medium, they might like to try some art projects that use leaves to teach about the art element of texture.
