Leaf Collection Craft

When DS’s den worked on collections, most of the guys knew what they wanted in their collections – Pokemon cards (which were the rage in their school at the time), stamps, coins, etc. DS had just started a bottle cap collection. But one of the Wolves didn’t know what to collect. I knew he spent a lot of time outdoors and enjoyed nature, so I suggested he make a leaf collection.

That is what he did. His mom helped him make a display book for his leaves as described below. It really turned out nice and the other boys in the den thought it was neat. So I thought I’d share the idea with you.

I was also thinking that if any of you have kids who are into science fairs and they want to do a collection type science fair project, this would make a nice way to catalog and show off a collection of leaves.

Leaf Collection Craft

Materials

• 2 pieces of construction paper for front and back cover
• Leaves (leaves which are still somewhat fresh work better than dry leaves)
• Contact paper
• Scissors
• Stapler

Instructions

1. Cut the construction paper to the size you want for the front and back cover. An 8 inch by 8 inch size works well.
2. Decorate the cover with your name or a drawing.
3. Cut two pieces of contact paper to about the same size as the cover.
4. Carefully peel the back off of one of the pieces of contact paper.
5. Put the contact paper flat on a table, sticky side up.
6. Put one or more leaves on the sticky side. Leave at least an inch space between the edge of the leaves and the edge of the contact paper. (Don’t put them too close to the edge.)
7. Carefully peel the back off of the second piece of contact paper.
8. Carefully place the sticky side of the second piece of contact paper over the first, so the sticky sides are together with the leaves in the middle. You might need another person to help with this.
9. Trim the edges of the contact paper.
10. When you have all of the “pages” finished, stack your pages between your front and back cover and staple it together along one edge.

Notes:
The most difficult part of this project is putting the sticky sides of the contact paper together. An alternate way to do it is to use construction paper instead of the second piece of contact paper. The downside is that you will only be able to see one side of the leaves.