4 Fall Leaf Books and Activities for All Ages

No matter your age, fall leaves are beautiful and fascinating. Whether your child is just learning about seasons, or is delving deeper into the science of leaves changing, these Fall Leaf Books and Activities for All Ages are a great way to explore fall leaves!

We’ve had a wonderful time this fall exploring fall leaves! My son is 4 and he loves to crunch them under his feet and jump in them. This year was a great year for us to start learning more about fall and why it happens. There were so many fun books and activities, that I decided to put them all together in one post.

4 Fall Leaf Books and 4 Fall Activities for All Ages

1. Summer Green to Autumn Gold

The Book

Summer Green to Autumn Gold: Uncovering Leaves’ Hidden Colors by Mia Posada

This book gets straight into the science of why leaves change. It is full of useful information about how chlorophyl works and the cycle of trees and plants. The facts of the book may go over younger kids heads, but the pictures make up for it. Older kids will learn more from this book, while children will enjoy the illustrations.

The Activity

Hunt, Sort, and Classify

The beginning of “Summer Green to Autumn Gold” shows all of the leaves in their green state, labeled with their names. We went on a leaf scavenger hunt at the park for the different types of leaves that were shown in the book. You likely won’t find all of them in your area. We didn’t either. We did, however find several leaves similar to ones in the book and were able to match them up.

Once you gather plenty of leaves, you can also sort and classify them other ways. This is an activity suitable for all ages, so you can be as specific or vague with your descriptions as you like.

Younger kids may just want to sort their leaves by color or size. Older kids can get more in depth by sorting the types of leaves or developing a system to classify and label them. How in depth you go is up to the age of the child and their interest, but the important thing is to find leaves, learn about them, and have fun.

2. Bella’s Fall Coat

The Book

Bella’s Fall Coat by Lynn Plourde

This book carries a subtle message of things not lasting forever. The notion of seasons being temporary is a big part of it, as is Bella’s Fall Coat running its course and her grandmother making her a new one. Bella wants things to last forever but some things just don’t last.

The Activity

Preserving Leaves in Wax paper

In the book, Bella’s fall coat, Bella wants her fall leaves to last forever. While her grandmother assures her that they won’t last forever, she does show her one way to make them last a little while longer. In the book, they put leaves between Wax paper and use an iron to transfer wax onto the leaves.

All you need for this is a clothing iron, some wax paper, a towel, and a pillowcase (and your leaves, of course). Just lay down a towel to protect your work surface, lay down wax paper, place the leaves on the paper, and place another wax sheet on top. turn to iron to the nylon setting (medium heat, no steam), place the pillow case on top (to protect your iron), and iron over several times.

Once you have done one side, flip the wax sheets over and do the other side. Let the sheet cool and then peel the wax paper off. The wax from the paper will transfer to the leaf and the leaves will last a few weeks longer than they normally would. You can use them in crafts, use one as a book mark, or just lay them out to look pretty.

This activity is a good opportunity to talk about the notion of permanence and the changing of the seasons. It’s also a good introduction to learning how preservation works, as well as heat transfer.

3. Fletcher and the Falling Leaves

The Book

Fletcher and the Falling Leaves by Julia Rawlinson

The cute little fox in “Fletcher and the Falling Leaves” is doing everything he can to help his poor tree as the leaves fall to the ground and get blown in the wind. Young children who understand that leaves fall will get a chuckle out of watching Fletcher try to put the leaves back. The book is a fun introduction to the changing of the seasons, with falling leaves at the center of the story.

The Activity

Falling Leaf Sensory Bottle

For this activity, all you need are some fall leaves in various colors (about 10-15 small to medium size leaves), an empty Voss water bottle (or any bottle you think may work), baby oil, and some water.

Fill the bottle 1/3 of the way with the baby oil, add in your leaves. Small to medium size leaves work best, and it’s better if they aren’t too dry. Carefully squeeze them into the bottle, then fill it the rest of the way with water. Let the leaves settle and rise to the top, then tip it over and let the magic happen.

Technically, the leaves rise, not fall. Still, this is a quick and easy activity for all ages. Even I had fun watching the leaves rise in the bottle. Beware though, this activity is temporary. It will last about a day before the leafs start to soak up the oil and water and lose some of their buoyancy and color. Still, this fall sensory bottle is very fun to look at while it lasts, and can also be a fun experiment to watch how the leaves change inside the bottle over time.

4. Leaf Man

The Book

Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert

The unique images in Lois Ehlert’s “Leaf Man” are made from leaves. The book features images of flowers, birds, butterflies, and various other creations, all made from leaves and sticks. The book lends itself well to open play and creative story telling using the natural elements we find outside in autumn.

The Activity

Make Your Own Leaf Creations

Collect leaves, pinecones, sticks and berries from outside. Then use them to make your own pictures like the ones in the Leaf Man book. You can glue your creations to paper, or just let them be temporary.

Kids of all ages will enjoy making leaf people, houses, trees, chickens, and even robots. We did this activity for a long time and my son had a blast making stories with the leaves.

I hope you enjoy these 4 Fall Leaf Books and Activities for all ages. Fall leaves offer a great educational opportunity for learning about science and plants, as well as discussing more adult concepts such as permanence and change.

Please feel free to share what you made on Instagram with #bookbadgeractivities and tag @bookbadgerblog in your post!

For more activities, see our most recent Activity Posts!