Try it Out! Bailey's Woods Fall Leaf

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Theora Hamblett was originally inspired to paint because she wanted to capture fall colors. What warm colors does Theora use to bring her fall landscape to life?

Ah! Fall! What a wonderful time of year! The colors start to change, the weather begins to cool down, and a new school year is underway. What changes do you notice in fall? 

In celebration of the First Day of Fall, we decided to take a walk in Bailey's Woods and see how the seasons are changing. We then created a project based on what we found! 

Fall is here! Look at all the colors in the leaves as they begin to change. What colors do you see?
Fall? Not so fast! These leaves got caught in the branches of other trees on their way down to the ground!
Look at how interesting these leaves look. Jagged and bumpy, they would be perfect to trace!

Materials: 

Big, crunchy fall leaf
Cardstock
Pencil
Colored Pencils (markers, crayons, etc.)

First, find a big, crunchy leaf that has already fallen to the ground. Look for leaves that have interesting shapes. Do you know what kind of tree it came from? Answer these questions and you might be able to find out!

Second, use a pencil to trace your leaf onto cardstock. As you're tracing, you'll probably have to look closely at your leaf. Notice all the lines on the surface? The big, thick ones are veins that transport food, water and minerals to the leaf.

If you look really, REALLY close, you might see little boxes. Those are called cells. What do you think they do? Click here to learn more about leaves and why they change color in the fall!

Third, after you've traced it in pencil, outline your drawing in colored pencils. Older students can try outlining their leaves using the cool colors, blue, green, and purple. Why do you think they are called cool colors?

Finally, once everything is outlined, draw in cells on your leaf. Color them in using the warm colors, red, yellow, and orange. Hang it somewhere special and enjoy the fall foliage all year long!

Be sure to come back tomorrow to learn a little bit about our incredible education staff when we post our first Interview with an Intern of the semester, featuring Ms. Emily Hargrove! 

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