Laminating Leaves

I love fall. It's definitely my favorite season. We've been celebrating this season as much as possible around here lately and I wanted to share a very simple craft that I did with my Cub Scout Den last week.  The boys thought it was really cool! Or maybe they were just humoring me...but still.

If you have a laminator, then this may be the easiest craft ever. But even if you don't, you can still accomplish basically the same thing (more on that later). Here's what we used:

I've written about my new found love of laminating before, where I also talk about my particular laminating machine.   But if you want to get a laminating machine on a tight budget, I understand that the Scotch Thermal Laminator is really great and a bargain at less than $30.  Also - I use the generic laminating sheets that you can buy on the cheap at wholesale clubs like Sam's, Costco or BJ's and they work great.

Yes, I realize that taking pictures of leaves on a tree-patterned tablecloth wasn't too great. I was too lazy to do anything else.

Step One: Force the kids outdoors take the kids on a walk and collect a variety of leaves.

Step Two: Remove stems from leaves and arrange on one side of laminating sheet.

Step Three:  Close up the laminating sheet and make sure leaves are as flat as possible between sheets (you may need to enlist the help of a good, heavy book placed on top for a few minutes to accomplish this).

Step Four: The really fun part! Carefully run the whole thing through your laminating machine! (You did turn it on, right?)

Watch the magic happen...

If you don't have a laminating machine, you can get similar results using wax paper - place leaves between two pieces and then iron. Clear contact paper would probably work, too.

Voila! Instant fall decor! You could three-hole punch these and add them to a science notebook, use as place mats, or hang in the window, like we did. If you really want to make more of a science project out of it, you could have the kids look up and label the individual leaves.

We were much too lazy to do anything like that, though.

~ Dori

What are some ways that you enjoy fall and bring it into your homeschooling?