This fall we discovered a new favorite book, Leaf Man, which inspired this fun art project using fall leaves. We love to create Autumn themed leaf art and look forward to this time of year to craft and create with fall leaves. This fall leaf art project is definitely our favorite Autumn craft project we’ve made so far this year! 
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Inspired by the book Leaf Man
We are a family of book worms, so I’m shocked that we never came across the book Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert until this fall. Someone suggested we read it so I put it on hold through our local library. We were mesmerized the moment we opened the book!
With each flip of the page, we were fascinated with the creativity that went into the creation of this gorgeous book. We couldn’t believe such beautiful, creative art was made out of leaves! Each page has leaves arranged to create a familiar creature: chicken, duck, bird, etc. The colors are so vibrant and the pictures Ehlert creates are astounding.
Even the pages are uniquely shaped, adding texture and depth to each lovely page. We love Lois Ehlert’s books since they are all illustrated in colorful, creative ways but this book is definitely our favorite! We were so smitten with this book, I had to buy a copy for our family’s personal book collection.
Collecting Autumn Leaves
One brisk Autumn day we put on our sweaters and boots, picked up our harvest baskets and headed outside. We walked around our house and collected leaves that caught our eye. Bright reds, glowing oranges, golden yellows and vibrant greens filled our baskets.
We also collected other natural Autumn treasures like the “airplane” seed pods from the maple trees. This was the first year Little Brother could really participate in gathering fall leaves since he is now two years old. It was such a joy to see his excitement and sense of wonder as we collected these beautiful fall leaves for our Autumn themed craft project!
Once we filled our baskets with leaves, we headed back inside the house to warm up and get creative. We had some of our favorite homemade honey sweetened hot cocoa and gathered at the kitchen table to start creating. We each had a piece of paper, a glue bottle and a pile of leaves. We lost ourselves in the process of creating our own colorful leaf creatures.
This fall leaf craft is versatile and can be used for any age from preschool all the way through adult. I loved joining in this project and created fall leaf creatures right along with my kids. Even two year old Little Brother joined in, although he was more fascinated with playing with the glue bottle and sticking then unsticking his leaves to the paper!
How to make Leaf Man inspired Autumn leaf pictures
Supplies needed:
Leaves of various colors, shapes, and sizes
paper
liquid glue (this is the kind we use)
scissors
wax paper
heavy book
Directions:
- Step 1: Pick out leaves and start arranging them to create a leaf creature or design. Cut leaves and stems as needed. Big Sister had the idea to cut leaves into shapes and created a castle for her Leaf Princess.
- Step 2: Glue your leaf creature to the paper.
- Step 3: Once the leaf creation is finished, allow the glue to dry. Then lay a piece of wax paper on top. Place a heavy book on top for a few days to help the leaves dry flat instead of curling up.
Tip: Make sure the glue is dry before pressing the leaf art. I learned this one from experience! Big Sister was a little glue happy on two of her leaf art projects and they weren’t totally dry when I put the waxed paper and heavy book on top. A few days later I checked them and the glue was still wet and the leaf art was starting to mildew- yuck!
The possibilities for leaf creatures are endless. We made our own “Leaf Man”, leaf fairy, leaf princess, leaf castle, leaf fish, leaf turtle, and leaf butterflies.
We have several other Autumn themed art and craft projects we are making this fall so check back for more Autumn and leaf themed creative adventures!
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