Grammy on the Go
By Karen Shadrach
It’s fall, and the trees are showcasing their beautiful colors and then slowly releasing their leaves! It’s a wonderful season to share and enjoy the fall leaves with the grandchildren. From hiking and collecting different leaf specimens, to fun leaf crafts and raking leaves followed by jumping into a huge pile, there are many unique experiences to enjoy together. So, enjoy the fall leaves before fall leaves and winter appears!
Hiking in the crisp fall air heightens your senses with the smell of the fallen leaves and the sound of their crunch beneath your feet along the trail. Collecting leaves along the way can be a great learning experience. You can take along a leaf identification book to discover the different types of trees found in Ohio. Collect and save your leaves for crafts at home.
Leaf tracings and leaf rubbings
Tracing leaves provides a fine motor activity. Have the grandkids trace their favorite leaves on top of a piece of paper, then paint or color. To learn their leaf identifications, make a leaf matching game! First trace the leaves on a poster board and label them. Follow by laminating the leaves and let the kids match each leaf to its outline on the poster.
Leaf prints can be made by painting one side of the leaf and then carefully placing the painted side onto a piece of construction paper. Put a scrap piece of paper over the leaf and press down gently. Peel off the top scrap paper and gently pull away the leaf. Presto! A nice leaf stamp!
You can also make easy crayon leaf rubbings. Collect leaves of various shapes and sizes, using either fresh or dried fallen ones. Place the leaf with its bottom side facing up on a table, then, place a piece of thin or lightweight paper on top of the leaf. Rub the side of the crayon gently on the area over the leaf. You will slowly see the leaf form start to appear over the colored areas. Remove the leaf and view… your finished leaf rubbing! To create multiple leaf rubbings, start by placing 3-5 leaves under a piece of paper and use a different colored crayon to rub each leaf. Overlap colors until all leaves are completed.
Saving and drying leaves
Saving and drying leaves is a fun activity. Pressed and preserved leaves are excellent for decorating. How special and fun to save the leaves you collected together on a fall hike to then use them as a centerpiece on Thanksgiving! The simplest method to dry leaves is to press them by sandwiching the leaves between sheets of wax or newspaper. Place them inside a heavy book. To make more weight, stack other books or heavy objects on top. Check the leaves after one week to make sure they are drying. At least two weeks will be needed for them to completely dry.
The best way to keep the leaves flexible and long-lasting for years to come is to preserve the leaves with glycerine. The glycerine-treated leaves can be used for many crafts such as wreaths and garlands. Mix one part glycerine to two parts water in a shallow pan. Place the leaves into the solution and weigh down with a dish so they are completely submerged. Check in 2-3 days, leaving them in the solution for an additional 2-3 days or until the leaves are soft and pliable. Remove and hang to dry.
As the season progresses, a lot more leaves will be falling. The grandkids love to rake! Let them 
help clear off your yard-raking leaves and then allow them to run and jump into the pile. If you don’t have a lot of trees in your yard, you can take a rake or two into the park and rake up a pile there! Running through and jumping in the leaf piles seems to be my grandchildren’s favorite activities, but you could also do a treasure hunt and hide objects for them to find within the leaf pile. Build up a large pile of leaves underneath a swing to jump into, or at the bottom of a slide.
Whatever you do with the grandkids this month, get out in the sun and fresh air before the season’s beautiful leaves leave.
Photos by Karen Shadrach
