Autumn Print Making

We love to spend time outdoors! Bringing children outside helps them connect with nature and find areas of wonder and inquiry that might not be available in the classroom. This time of year is filled with endless possibilities for exploration and appreciation of nature.

Today we went on a leaf hunt with the children. We have observed their growing interest in both signs of autumn and printmaking, so we decided to combine the two into an activity.

The leaves were plentiful!

Back inside, we used a small piece of Crayola Model Magic sculpting materials, some rollers, and our autumn objects to make prints.

First we rolled the clay so it was flat and smooth. There was a lot of math talk that emerged from the children as they discussed the size of their objects and how large or small their piece of clay needed to be. As they rolled they would hold their objects up to the clay and measure to see if the object fit inside.

There was also discussion about which side of the leaf would print the best. The children quickly realized that the veiny side left a better print, and the best kind of print was created when the leaf was rolled into the clay with the roller and then gently peeled off.

Here is how we've displayed this experience in our classroom.