Getting outside and exploring the beautiful fall colors is a great way to enjoy the autumn season. If you are looking for ideas and inspiration for how to study leaves with your kids you are in the right spot.
These fall leaf printables and activities are great for kids of all ages!
Don't get me wrong I love summer, but there is something about the changing of the leaves in the fall and the cool crisp air that the fall season brings.
Autumn is a great time to get outside and do some exploring with your kids.
This Post May Contain Affiliate Links. Please Read Our Disclosure Policy.
Jump to:
The Benefits of a Changing Season
All of these fall printables can be printed off at home and taken outdoors. Observe different leaf shapes, patterns, and colors while enjoying the autumn season together.
As the season progresses, activities can be done a second or third time. Each time, your kids will learn new things and make new observations.
Up here in New England, the maple leaves in the wetlands are the first to change color, about a month before the rest of the trees.
Then as the season progresses, the landscape is filled with orange and yellow leaves, and soon you forget what it looked like when it was mostly green!
Fun Fall Activities
This post is broken down into several different activities all with a fall leaf theme. You can use these as fun weekend activities or as part of a fall leaf unit study.
List of Fall Leaf Activities:
Free printables for the following activities can be downloaded as pdf files. You can get your copy at the bottom of this post.
- Fall Leaf Identification Cards
- Leaf Rubbing
- Fall Leaf Math Activities
- Leaf Hunts
- Leaf Tracing
Age Range for Activities
- Preschool
- Kindergarten
- Elementary
- Upper Elementary
All of these fun activities can be modified up or down depending on the age of your kids. When teaching your kids science, remember, it's not just about learning facts, but practicing science skills.
Younger children including toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergartners can do these activities along with older children. You know your kids best, so use the activities that you feel they will enjoy the most.
My goal is to give you ideas so that you can create meaningful experiences with your kids. Hopefully, you will find some fun activities that instill the love of learning science within your kids.
Whether you are celebrating the autumnal equinox with your kids or looking for resources for a fall leaf unit study. Sometimes the simplest ideas allow kids to be the most creative.
Fall Leaf Identification Cards
Designed with little learners in mind, these leaf cards can be printed off then used as a learning resource. As you find leaves outside or in books, use the cards to reinforce the name and shape of the leaves.
- You can get your copy of the cards within the printable pack at the bottom of this post.
The cards include printable pictures of an orange maple leaf, reddish brown oak leaf, yellow beech leaf, and a yellow aspen leaf. When you head outside together, see if you can find real leaves that look like the pictures.
Then hunt for different color leaves of the same type of leaf. In a small patch of backyard, you maybe able to find several different sized maple leaves all with unique color patterns.
Even brown leaves have a variety of tones and leaf patterns for kids to observe.
Oak leaves are another great example of a tree species where each one has different leaves.
White oak trees, red oaks, and swamp oaks will all have different shaped leaves along with fall leaves of varying colors.
Helpful Tip: To create a matching game for your young kids, print off two sets of the images of the fall leaves. Then flip them over and scramble them to create an easy paper based matching game.
How to Adapt for Older Children
If you have older kids, use these leaf cards as a starting point for them to create their own using real leaves they find outside. Bring along a camera and a field guide on your next nature walk.
As you explore the outdoors, your kids can take photos with a camera of different species of leaves they find outside. Then, using a tree pocket guide, they can create matching word cards.
As a fun game, they can then match the leaves to the correct species written on the name cards. Bonus if they include the scientific name along with the common name!
If they clip the cards together, they can take it along with them on hikes as their own handmade pocket chart.
Honestly, as an adult I would enjoy doing this activity! Yes, I am one of those people who walks two feet then stops again to observe something amazing I found.
Our nature walks don't involve that much walking, rather observing and picture taking.
But really, exploring the outdoors and learning about nature really has no age limit. While your kids are collecting leaves, pick a few of your own and make your own set of leaf cards. Kids love sharing experiences with you.
Leaf Rubbing Nature Journaling
If you haven't started nature journaling with your kids I highly recommend it! It is one of the easiest ways to learn and explore science. With this art style entry, kids can make their own leaf rubbings.
The first step is to head outside and find some real fall leaves. Once the fall season is in full swing, you should be able to find a new variety of leaf every week.
For the best leaf rubbing, use a leaf with ridges or bumped up veining.
Flat leaves with little to no raised textures will not create as detailed as an image as raised leaves. However, exploring and trying out different types is a wonderful learning opportunity!
Encourage your kids to try out different types of leaves then discuss why some worked better than others.
Sometimes it is best to let kids figure it out on their own without giving them all of the information up front.
Directions can be found on the printable leaf rubbing worksheet. Only a few supplies are needed including fresh leaves, crayons, and the printable.
In preparation, print off the printable on regular printer paper or cardstock. Another option is to have kids create leaf rubbings directly into a blank notebook.
Very young children will need some guidance to learn how to hold the crayon. It may take a few tries for them to get the hang of it, but the look on their face is priceless when they see the outline of the leaf on the page.
Pure leaf magic!
Observing Leaves Nature Journal
Another nature journal printable involves making observations of fall leaves. Head outside together to hunt for colorful fall leaves. This time bring along a magnifying lens or field microscope.
This small field microscope is great for kids and small enough to take with you on a nature walk or hike.
Kids can stop and make sketches of the leaves they find outside. Bring along some crayons, colored pencils, or watercolor paints.
If you are doing this with older children, they can look up the type of leaf in a field guide such as the Tree Book for Kids and Their Grown-ups. A beautifully illustrated guide book about trees for children.
Math Activities
Many kids benefit from using tangible items when learning math. Head outside and collect some fall leaves together. Real leaves found outdoors make wonderful math manipulatives.
- Kids can also analyze the leaves they collected. Data collection, graphing, and interpenetrating data are all important skills.
There are endless ways to integrate math with a leaf hunt!
Even young children can...
- count the leaves
- sort from smallest to largest
- group leaves by a specific characteristic
- create a pictograph using real leaves
If you are looking for more math activities make sure to check out the collection of free math resources!
Leaf Tracing
There are so many ways to use leaves as learning tools. Leaf tracing is a fun way to to observe the different shapes and sizes of fall leaves.
We have many large oak trees on our property and with a quick search, I was able to find so many different shaped oak leaves. No two leaves were exactly the same.
Kids of all ages can do this activity, but it is especially beneficial for younger kids. Toddlers and preschoolers can practice fine motor skills along with logic.
If you have ever observed a toddler trying out something new, it can take them time to problem solve and figure out how to get a task done.
You can even take it one step further and color in the leaf outlines or cut them out. DIY paper leaf garland can be made out of the leaves that they trace.
My little one, enjoyed coloring in the outlines with his favorite colors using regular crayons.
Additional Leaf Themed Activities
- Printable Fall Leaves
If you are looking for leaf outlines for fall themed crafts, leaf coloring pages can be printed off then used with your kids.
Young children can color, then cut out the simple leaf shape of the beech leaves. Older children can practice fine motor skills by cutting out the maple and oak leaf outlines.
DIY fall crafts always make the best fall decorations.
There is something about hanging up your kid's artwork that gives them a sense of pride every time they pass it!
All six of the free printable leaf templates can be found within the fall leaf coloring page post.
- Fall Leaf Art
If you've read any of my other art posts then you how much I love using watercolor paint and watercolor pencils when doing art projects with kids. There is just something so special about using these art supplies!
This final art project is super simple and a great way to enjoy being outside this autumn together. Simply find a few of your favorite colorful leaves and experiment with creating your own watercolor fall leaves.
Remember art and learning is all about the process and not always about the end result!
- Dot to Dot Leaf Designs
Have fun exploring different leaves while counting from 1-20! Different leaf connect the dot printables to print off an use right away.
- Additional Ideas
These ideas and just the beginning of your adventure into learning about fall leaves. As the fall season goes on, try out a few additional activities with your kids.
- Read a few books about fall
- Use a field guide to identify trees and their leaves
- Head out for a drive on an overcast or rainy day to observe the colorful fall foliage
Hopefully, these free fall leaf printables and activities gave you some ideas an inspiration on how you can learn about leaves with your children.
Terms of Use
These sheets were created by Nature Inspired Learning and are for personal use only for your home, classroom, or public library. All of these fall leaf printables are for non-commercial use. See full disclosure.
Download
Fall Leaf Activity Pack, Nature Journaling Pages, and Fall Leaf ID cards
Looking for more nature inspired activities? Make sure to check out this Printable Fall Scavenger Hunt!
Mariana
I love how many seasonal activities can be made for various subjects! Saving this one!
Stephanie
This looks like so much fun!! I particularly like the idea of the fall leaf identification cards, that is such a cool way to learn the different trees on your property! Thanks so much!
Julie
Your very welcome Stephanie! Kids love identifying different trees.
Kelsey
So much learning can be done with these fun activities! Definitely going to save this!
Alisha
Love these! So many great ideas!
Ada
I love these ideas! A great way to learn and enjoy the beauty of the season. Thank you so much for sharing!!!
Julie
Your welcome Ada, thank you for taking the time to comment.
Jeanetta
I love these kinds of homeschool activities! I will save this for a future homeschool project! Thank you for the great article!
Julie
Your very welcome Jeanetta! I'm glad you will be able to use them in the future.