Making applique from leaves is one of the most fascinating activities with children.

With the onset of autumn, I want to capture bright colors in original hand-made articles. Make colorful applications with the leaves from the children. Surely you have already stocked with the natural material necessary to perform wonderful compositions. Walking with a child in an autumn park, collect colorful leaves, acorns, various twigs. Seeds of plants, fruits of mountain ash, and viburnum are also useful for work. It takes only a little imagination - and the dry leaves "come to life", turning into interesting animals and birds.

Creating applications from leaves of trees is an ideal way to introduce children to the basics of fine art. In addition, this type of activity perfectly develops fine motor skills. Studying, children acquire from a young age certain skills and skills, learn new materials, get acquainted with their properties. In addition, there is an opportunity to have a good time with your family: first a fun walk in the park and the collection of original autumn bouquets, and then a fascinating composition of songs that will delight the eye with wondrous paints and unusual characters throughout the winter.

Pre-treatment of leaves

They can be freshly collected and dried. To ensure that the application of the autumn leaves is more durable, it is recommended to use a dry material. There are two options for preparing him for work:

1. Place the leaves between the pages of books, paving paper towels on both sides. You can put them in a newspaper and put a load on top. In order for the leaves to dry, it will take several days.
2. Apply to dry the iron. This method allows you to quickly get the material you need to work. Put a sheet between the newspapers and iron it with a warm iron, let it cool down. It is very important not to allow overheating, as this will cause the material to crumble.

Operating procedure

When creating applications from leaves you will need dense colored paper or cardboard for the substrate, colorless liquid glue, a brush, scissors, tweezers for the convenience of working with small parts. It is very important with children to think in advance the arrangement of the elements of the composition, to choose the suitable material and to plan the order of actions. Simple applications of leaves can be done immediately, laying out the imagined image, like a mosaic, picking up a good location, changing parts in places. For more complex compositions, it is necessary to pre-compose the preforms, and then in parts to arrange the elements on the basis, starting to glue them from the background. One of the options for the preparatory work is a simple pencil outline of the laid out material on the contour of details on the main background.

The specificity of some pictures is based on the creation of an image with its reflection. Creating such applications of leaves, like a butterfly, a tree, introduce children to the concept of symmetry using the example of a simple mirror. Very small children can make their first masterpieces, just filling the painted contour with scraps of leaves, and adults will help them in this fascinating activity. Ready work should be covered with paper napkins and withstand under the load for a while.

The applications made by children will be great gifts for grandparents.