Hobbies And Interests
Scrapbooks
Collect leaves from different trees and take a photograph of each tree you collect them from. Use a nature book to identify each tree as you do so. Put each leaf in a separate paper bag and write the tree's name on it. Dedicate separate pages in a scrapbook for each tree and paste in the leaf and photograph and note down all the information you've learned about that tree. Write the date the leaf was collected to record the season and note the location where it was collected.
Leaf Craft
Take a photo of your favorite tree. Collect leaves from it and preserve them in a leaf-press or by sandwiching them in layers of tissue paper and pressing them between the pages of a heavy book; add heavy books on top. Allow the leaves to dry for at least one week. When dry, paste them around a plain wooden picture frame and coat them with a layer of clear varnish. Use the decorated photo frame to display the photograph of the tree you gathered the leaves from.
Leaf Sculpture
Collect large piles of leaves in a forest in autumn. Separate them into different colors. Use the piles to build up a sculpture or art installation in the forest. Use a stick to trace abstract patterns, geometric shapes or an image from nature, such as a tree or flower, on the ground. Place the different-colored leaves in piles inside the outlines of the pattern you've drawn to build up your sculpture. When finished, take a photo for a record of your installation.
Leaf Collage
Sketch pictures of different types of trees; use trees that have different shapes. Gather leaves from those trees, keeping each variety separate. Make bark rubbings from each type of tree by tying paper onto the trunks with string and rubbing over the paper with a thick crayon until the pattern comes through. Copy the tree sketches onto large pieces of paper. Cut out trunk shapes from the bark rubbing paper and glue them over the trunks of your sketched trees. Glue the appropriate leaves onto each tree.