Doing crafts is an excellent activity for you to do with your child. Every kid loves to make things with his/her hands. It’s even more fun for them to make things with parents and people who love them. So here are some fun ideas for leaf crafts that are fun for both kids and adults.
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Fabric Stamping
This is a really fun idea that can be used in almost any way you can think of. It’s a must easier way to may fabric look exciting without having to paint it all by hand. This is what you do: take your child and go outside and pick a few leaves from a tree or shrub. You can have a lot of fun with your kid just looking for good leaves to use. Then bring the leaves in and press them for a few hours (just to get out any big bends or creases in your leaves). Use a brush to put paint onto my stamps or a roller. A brush may add more texture, but is much more time consuming. Using an inkpad that’s got fabric paint in it is another option. Be careful that you haven’t got paint on your fingertips when you press down the stamp as it’s far too easy to get it onto the fabric. Get into the habit of wiping your fingers on a cloth regularly.
Using a leaf as a stamp is just like using any other stamp- all you need to do is apply the paint and press it onto your fabric. The only thing to remember is that, because a leaf isn’t hard like a stamp, you need to ensure that every bit of it has come into contact with the fabric. You may want to run you fingers all along the outline of the leaf, then systematically across the middle. Make sure that you don’t accidentally shift the leaf as you’ll blur your print. Experiment with putting the paint on the ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ sides of the leaf for different effects. You also need to make sure that you don’t tear the leaf by pressing too hard.
You can really go wild with this idea. Use leaves for stamps on sheets, shower curtains, quilts, tablecloths, t-shirts, etc. You child may especially enjoy wearing the leaf craft (a t-shirt or bandana) that you made together. Use it as an accent or as the main focus of fabric. Just remember to use waterproof fabric paint if you’re going to stamp fabric that will be washed on a regular basis.
Leaf Collage
Your child will love this one. It requires only a large piece of paper, paint, glue, and leaves. And it takes more imagination than instruction! Go for a walk and collect a wide variety of leaves. Let as many colors and shapes as you can find. Bring the leaves inside and press them (you can do this using a book, steam and iron or a microwave pressing method). While pressing the leaves, take your paint and decorate the piece of paper. Then glue the leaves onto the paper. You can overlap them to make a busy collage, or you can neatly arrange them on the paper and even label the type of leaf. Let your child decide what kind of layout to do on the page.
