The leaves are starting to turn beautiful shades of red, orange and yellow! It’s such a fun time of year for crafting. The ground is full of fun objects to get creative with. If you’d rather have an easy prep craft ready to go, this adorable Leaf Man Craft is for you. I’ll show you how to create the leaf man and how you can use it with your kiddos.
How to Use the Leaf Man with a Story
There are tons of fall stories that you can read with your kids in the cooler months. There are stories about squirrels, pumpkins, apples and more. One of our favorites is Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert. The story is all about a leaf man that gets blown away by the wind. The story takes the reader across many beautiful scenes, all created out of leaves. The Leaf Man blows over pumpkin patches, cute little bunnies and even water. You can listen to the Leaf Man story HERE.
We love to read this story and then create our own colorful leaf man. After listening to the story, we brainstorm all the different things we can create out of leaves. Sometimes we even bring our creations to life with leaves we find outside. We always make this Leaf Man craft to wrap up our day!
How to Create this Craft
This Leaf Man Craft comes with a photograph of the finished product so you know exactly how to make it. It also comes with step-by-step directions so you and your little ones don’t make any mistakes along the way. The templates are easy to print onto colored cardstock or you xerox them onto labeled white templates for tracing.
The students can cut the pieces out themselves, or you can prepare them ahead of time. I like to lay out a variety of colors and shapes so the kids can put their own spin on the leaf man.
If you want, you can also print the coloring page that lets students color, cut and paste their leaf man all by themselves. This version lets the kids decorate their leaves any way they want. I love seeing their creativity through coloring.
Displaying the Leaf Man
Not sure how to display the leaf man? I’ll help.
If you have a bulletin board space, you can put the leaf men up with the words “A Leaf Man’s Got To Go Where the Wind Blows”. This is a quote from the book by Lois Ehlert. It’s the perfect display if you pair the craft with the story.
You can also display the leaf man as a Leaf Man Project and let the students write a little something about their leaf man. They can share his name, where he’s traveled, where he wants to travel and more. I love hearing all of the interesting names and activities the kids come up with for their leaf man.
Keep it simple with a “We’re Unbe – LEAF – able” wording on your bulletin board. Then, spread the leaf men around the words. You can even add a tree that the leaves have fallen from. This makes an easy and cute display for the fall months. Everyone will love it.
You can also use the leaf men to decorate the room. Spread them around on the windows, walls and doors to add a pop of color to the classroom. It will help bring the fun of fall right into the room.
Fall Craft Bundle
If you are looking for more fall crafts like the Leaf Man, you can find 13 additional crafts in the Fall Crafts Bundle. Crafts included are:
- The Leaf Man
- Crow
- Squirrel
- Fall Corn
- Jack-O-Lantern/Pumpkin
- Fall Acorn
- Fall Bird
- Owl
- Square Pumpkin
- Jumping in the Leaves
- Rake Kids
- Pumpkin Kids
- Scarecrow
- Sunflower
These 14 crafts are sure to keep your fall season festive and engaging! Enjoy!
Take a closer look at the leaf man craft below!