After a year of pre-kindergarten for my twin daughters, I find myself facing my first summer vacation from school. It is amazing what they learned in a single school year!  As the daughter of an elementary school teacher, I know how important it is to emphasize learning activities over the summer to combat the 1-2 month academic loss that typically occurs over the summer vacation. For that reason, I will throw in an occasional blog with summer learning suggestions you can do with your children or grandchildren.

There are several math, science, and reading skills that can be reinforced by collecting and identifying tree leaves. Have your child collect as many different tree leaves as they can in your yard, neighborhood, or while on vacation. There are more activities to do if you have a wide variety of leaves from different types of trees.

Discussing the characteristics of each leaf can help build your child’s vocabulary. Have him point out similarities and differences.  Older children can research the different parts of the leaf and its function.

The leaves can be used for a variety of math skills. Younger children can count the number of leaflets on the petiole of compound leafs. Pre schoolers can sort the leaves and place them in piles of twos or fives to practice counting. Elementary children can sharpen their measuring skills by measuring the length of an individual leaf. You can take the measuring one step further by having your child find the average length of the leaves. Finding the mean, mode, and median will help reinforce this skill.

Children of all ages can identify the tree by using a leaf identification site online.  I liked the Arbor Day site because it gave information about trees from all states. Many individual states had similar sites to use when identifying trees from that state. Have older children observe the vascular structure of the leaf and research its function. They can also research the parts of a leaf.

What better way to enjoy your outdoor space than with an easy science lesson?  It will help your child exercise his body and his mind. Keep your kids entertained this summer with these fun tree leaf activities.

About Philip Travers

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