Blog Educational Games for Children
written by Kim Proulx on September 24, 2007

Big and Small Leaf Adventure Game

Fall is approaching and the weather is starting to cool down.  It's time to get outside and have some fun.  In the coming weeks you'll be able to see the environment start to change.  The weather will cool.  The leaves will change colors and the sun will go down earlier.  These changes make great conversation topics with your children.

Evening walks are always a great way to spend time as a family.  To make your family time even more fun there's a game you can play along the way. 

If you have a park near your house or a tree filled neighborhood, you can take your child on a walk there and talk about the changes that are about to occur or have already started, depending on where you live.  If leaves have begun to fall, you can go on a leaf collecting adventure.

Game: Leaf Collecting Adventure to teach the concept of Big and Small.

Give each family member 2 plastic bags.  Label 1 bag with the word Big and one bag with the word Small.  Have each participant search for the biggest and smallest leaves.  Have them place the leaves in the appropriate labeled bag.  If your child is really young, you can draw a big leaf on one bag and a small leaf on the other and tell them that they should put leaves that are close to those sizes in the bags.  Continue this fun activity until your bags have several leaves.  Discuss how the leaves look as you collect them.  You can also discuss colors, sizes and shapes.  This is a fun way to interact with your child.  When you've collected your leaves and finished your walk you can continue the fun by doing a craft at home.

Items you'll need:
*paper
*crayons
*bag of leaves

Set up your supplies on a table.  Sit down.  Discuss the difference between big and small  leaves.  Give each participant 2 pieces of paper.  Write the word Big on the top of one sheet and the word Small on the top of another.  Have the child take out his favorite small leaves and place them on the table.  Have him arrange the leaves next to each other in a space that is the approximate size of a piece of paper.  Have the child place the paper titled Small on-top-of the small leaves.  Have him take a crayon and begin to scribble on the paper over any leaf of his choice.  The outline and details of the leaf will start to come to life.  Encourage your child to use many colors on the picture.  When the small leaf picture is complete, have your child arrange the big leaves on the table and repeat the coloring activity.

When both leaf pictures are complete you can discuss the difference between big and small.  Ask your child to recall some other big things he saw on the walk and some little things he noticed.  Encourage your child to be very creative with this project and add his own special touches to the pictures.  Have fun with this entire experience and watch your child have fun while learning.