leaves

Today I had a couple schoolagers for the day since there is no school here!  The oldest LOVES playing school and she rounds the kids up and does different little things with them!  So I let her take over today and I sat back and enjoyed the break!  (again i wish i would have grabbed my camera)  she had them singing, counting, do dance moves, following in a line, ect!!  It was so much fun to see!  So after nap I decided that I should give her a break and do some work myself!
I sent the older kids outside in search of "good leaves".  They came back with a nice selection!  Together we found something heavy to put the leaves under so that they could flatten a little bit!
When snack was over it was time to share what we were going to do with the leaves!
The first two steps were already explained:  gather and flatten "good leaves"
3rd step:  explain to children the front and back of a leaf and talk about how they are different
4th step:  have children paint the back of the leaf
5th step:  flip leaf over and press onto paper!
6th step:  oh and ah over how cool it looks when you take the leaf off!!!

Here are some pics for those visual learners :)

 painting the back of the leaf

Another little man painting the back of his leaf yellow!

 using ice cube tray and q-tips for painting!

 great fine motor skill of having to hold the leaf and paint at the same time!

 getting ready for the flip!

 a good firm press!

and here we have a BEAUTIFUL leaf print!

I loved this activity!  I thought forsure the younger kids were not going to enjoy themselves or understand but they kept right up with the older kids!  Way to prove me wrong kiddos!!!

Do your kiddos ever prove you wrong?