This activity is a great way to see the different textures and patterns that appear in nature. Head outside and find some trees and leaves to use for your rubbings! Trees have bark to protect their insides from damage. In this activity, try and find different patterns and colours of bark. Leaves of trees and other plants have veiny patterns on them. These veins bring water and nutrients to different parts of the leaf. If you do our Nature Journal activity beforehand, you can add these pieces of art to it!
What You’ll Need
White paper
Wax crayons
Leaves
Bark
What to Do
Grab a piece of paper, some wax crayons, and head outside.
Find a tree or leaves on the ground.
Place paper on tree bark or on top of leaf.
Tip: It might work better to collect the leaves and take them home so that you have a hard surface such as a table to make a nice rubbing of the leaves you found.
Hold wax crayon sideways (take off the paper wrapping) and move crayon back and forth over the paper.
Tip: Don’t press too hard with your crayon while rubbing against the paper.
You should be able to see the pattern of the bark or leaves come through on the paper. See how many different patterns you can find.
Continue until your page is full, then grab another sheet of paper!
Want another challenge? Use a local plant ID book to help ID your leaves. In the early spring or in the fall, when there are no flowers or fruits around this is a great way to learn how to identify plants!
Ask Yourself
Do different trees make different patterns?
Are the leaves that you found different colours or sizes? Why?
Why should you use leaves that have already fallen off of the trees instead of picking them off of trees to make your rubbings?