Autumn Leaf Activities

Nature Science and Creative Family Fun

After a pretty grey summer, autumn has swept in—bringing that sweet, unmistakable scent of fallen leaves and an explosion of gold, orange, and red on every pavement. If there’s one way to make the most of this beautiful season, it’s by getting outside, collecting leaves as a family, and turning them into art, science, and memory-filled projects. Here are our hands-down favourite autumn leaf activities, perfect for growing curiosity, creativity, and family connection.

Why Autumn Leaves Are the Best Learning Resource

Every nature walk in autumn is a mini adventure. Keep an eye out for leaves on the ground, examining the shapes and colours, and see which trees have already started their annual transformation. Just noticing the difference between trees is a great first step: can your child spot which trees are deciduous and which are evergreen? Talk about why deciduous trees lose their leaves, while evergreens keep their green foliage all year.

Why do leaves change colour at all? It’s all about chlorophyll—the green pigment that soaks up sunlight and turns leaves green all spring and summer. When days shorten and nights are cooler, chlorophyll fades away, letting the other beautiful pigments (reds, oranges, yellows, browns) finally shine through. A simple experiment is to collect leaves at the start and end of the season, compare them, and talk about their “hidden” colours.

Hands-On Education’s Seasons and How Plants Grow topics are packed with nature walk ideas, easy science explanations, and printable leaf identification sheets to bring these outings to life.

Favourite Family Leaf Crafts and Science Projects

• Leaf Printing: Cover a leaf in paint with a brush, turn it over onto paper, press down, and peel off for a beautiful print. Overlap prints to create patterns and compare the shapes. Try this with leaves you’ve collected on a walk for instant, meaningful art.
• Leaf Rubbings: Place a leaf under a piece of paper and gently rub over it with the side of a crayon or chalk. The veins and edges show up beautifully—great for fine motor skills and learning about leaf structure!
• Drawing Leaves: Observation skills bloom when kids try to draw their collected leaves. Younger children can trace around them; older ones might try to sketch from sight, noticing fine details like the veins and edges.

For more crafty inspiration, check out Art in Nature, which includes printables, art techniques, and ideas for embracing natural materials in every season.

Pressing, Preserving, and Creating with Leaves

Pressing leaves is a family staple. Every autumn, we collect a few favourites—unusual shapes, bold colours, or leaves with funny imperfections—and press them in big, heavy books. We’ve learned to sandwich leaves between sheets of wax paper, watercolour paper, or kitchen towel to protect pages and avoid damp damage. After a week, we have perfect pressed leaves for art, science, or greeting cards.

Some of our best projects:

• Gold and Silver Leaves: Paint pressed leaves with acrylic gold or silver paint. Once dry, glue them onto cards, sew a few together to hang as garlands, or make stunning, seasonal wall art.
• Nature Collages: Arrange leaves into animal shapes, rainbows, or abstract collections. Glue on extra nature finds (seeds, feathers, bits of bark). Add wobbly eyes for a playful touch.
• Handy tip: use a paintbrush to apply PVA glue on delicate pressed leaves to protect the edges.

Explore more with Plants Around Us for simple nature crafts, and Seeds and Lifecycles for science-led projects.

Leafy Science: From Observing to Investigating

Leaf activities aren’t just about art—they’re a launchpad for science exploration. Watch the process of decomposition; compare leaves broken down into soil to freshly fallen ones; or collect, label, and sort leaves to make your own simple classification keys. Look closely at veins, stems, and leaf margins—these tiny differences are the foundation of plant identification.

If your child loves a hands-on challenge, try:

• Measuring the sizes of different leaves with a tape measure.
• Creating a leaf “timeline” showing the change from green to brown.
• Investigating which trees drop their leaves first and last.
  All these experiments tie into How Plants Grow and science-friendly home projects.

Sensory Play: Clay, Leaves, and Natural Textures

For tactile learners, clay and autumn leaves are a dream duo. Roll clay into a flat surface, press in a leaf, then peel it off to reveal detailed imprints. Paint the dried clay for creative keepsakes or use a straw to make decorative holes and hang them as ornaments. These sensory projects reinforce observation and scientific thinking as children compare edges, veins, and overall leaf shape.

See more clay and leaf ideas in Hands-On Education's art packs and the Wonderful Water topic for using natural materials in investigations.

Learning, Wonder, and BBC Resources

Nature adventures are the best way to nurture curiosity about the world and seasonally changing science. The BBC Bitesize How do leaves change? explainer is a great visual companion for children wanting to learn more about pigment and seasonal change, plus quick videos and simple quizzes that reinforce what you see on your walk.

Closing Thought: Collect, Create, and Celebrate the Season

Autumn leaves are invitations to explore, create, and learn—at every age. Embrace the mess, savour the colours, and try something new. For even more nature-based ideas, Hands-On Education’s nature hubs have step-by-step guides for art, science, and family play, keeping everyone inspired through the whole colourful season.