create (with kids): leaf printing

Our leaf-falling days are almost behind us. It was a very brief season this year. The colors were good- even better than I thought they'd be with our lack of rain- but the leaves have been dropping so quickly. All at once really, assisted by rain, hail, and heavy winds. We haven't brought many inside, but it only takes a few to create an art project, right?

This project is a printing project of the easiest kind. Our ink pad is a few folded-up, dampened paper towels with tempera paint on top. (I put a puddle of paint on the top layer, then folded the paper towel upon itself in different directions until the paint was spread out.) Then it was time to print! First we pressed a leaf, vein-side down, on top of our "ink pad" until it had a nice layer of paint. We then put it paint-side down on the paper and covered it with a clean piece of copy paper. Finally we rubbed the leaf through the copy paper- which especially helps little fingers not rub the leaf to bits (wink).

And then you have a print! Isn't that fascinating? There's just something about printing that makes me very happy. The way that it picks up details in an object- setting them apart to be noticed in a new way. It made Isia happy too. She loved to announce each time she "made two leaves!"