Be a Leaf Detective at Forde Abbey Leaf collecting is fun as well as being a great way of learning about leaves and trees generally. Autumn is the best time to pick leaves as they are already falling from the trees and, of course, there is a tremendous variety of colours, from green, yellow and orange to red, purple and brown.
Leaf Rubbing at Forde Abbey Leaf rubbing is a favourite children’s activity - not only does it encourage them to be
Pictured below are six leaf varieties for you to hunt down in the gardens of Forde Abbey. Look out for the bright red leaves of Acer rubrum October Glory. Acer is the latin name for a maple tree, but the word also means sharp and refers to the hardness of the wood, which the Romans used for spear shafts. Beech leaves have a simple shape and are longer than they are wide.
creative, it also teaches children the features of different types of leaves. Before you start: Get your children to look closely at their leaves. Point out the different leaf parts, such as the veins, margins and stem. Talk about the different characteristics of the leaf and compare it to others. Tip: Strong leaves with well defined veins are the best ones from which to take rubbings.
They have between five and nine pairs of veins. At the end of each vein
What You Need: A variety of leaves, Forde Abbey Leaf Rubbing Pack (containing plain pa-
is a small “tooth” on the wavy leaf edge.
per, printed Autumn Leaves poem, mini pack of wax crayons) Away You go: 1. Hold a plain piece paper firmly over a leaf, so that the leaf does not move.
Hazel leaves are almost round in shape, but broadest near the tip (apex)
Hold the crayon horizontally over the paper and rub over the leaf so that the pattern
of the leaf. The leaf stalk and underside of the leaf are hairy! Hazel
gradually appears on the paper. 2. Using the Autumn Leaves sheet of paper, create multiple
stems are used to make fences, walking sticks and hurdles.
leaf rubbings to decorate the edges of the page surrounding the poem. Then colour in the leaf illustrations above and below the poem.
The Horse Chestnut leaf is a compound, palmate leaf with five to seven
Use your leaf rubbings to: Make a paper tree picture, using an ice lolly stick as the trunk
leaflets. Each leaflet has a prominent central vein/mid rib. The flowers
and cut out leaf rubbings. Make autumnal bunting - take a long piece of string and attach
of this tree eventually become spiked fruits, containing…conkers!
cut out leaf rubbings to it with clothes pegs at intervals about 10cm apart. Make a leaf skirt, using large cut-out leaf rubbings threaded onto a piece of string.
Limes have simple, broad leaves. Most notably, the two sides are not the
Other Leafy Ideas
same shape. The edge of the leaf has many tiny teeth. Limes attract greenfly and blackfly, which feed on the leaves, producing a sticky honeydew.
Be creative with your leaves. * Make a leaf collage by gluing leaves on to a large piece of paper. * Or press your favourite leaves in a scrapbook and label each leaf. Put the scrapbook under a heavy object for a few weeks to make sure the leaves stay flat. * Make a mobile either from your leaf rubbings or from actual leaves.
Oaks are long lived trees, many being 500 or more years old and the wood is very good wood to work with. The edge of an oak leaf is wavy, with five to seven “lobes” on each side. Pigs love oak acorns!