Ingredients:
- Leaves and flowers in varying colors, shapes, and sizes
- Safety scissors
- Drawing paper
- Glue or tape
- Crayons, colored pencils, markers
Prep Time:
Recipe for Fun!
Learn about nature’s symmetry and design while strengthening creative and critical thinking and improving fine motor skills.
STEP 1: Collect as many different types of leaves and flowers as possible while out on a walk outdoors or to the park.
STEP 2: Select a few favorites and carefully cut them in half along one side the stem, taking care to keep the stem intact. When using flowers, press the flower down as flat as possible to cut it in half.
STEP 3: Glue or tape each of the leaves or flowers to drawing paper and ask your child to spend time looking closely at the half they see in front of them.
Science Tip: As your child closely observes objects in nature, they can learn about the structure of a leaf, identifying different types of leaves and flowers. Make sure to help point out the shape of the edges, how many points or curves it had, what colors they see, etc.
STEP 4: As your child begins coloring, ask him/her to take note of the different colors or shading in the leaf. Suggest starting to draw from the center of the existing leaf and outwards to create the “other half” of the leaf that was cut off.
Make sure to display the finished artwork around your home taking the opportunity to have your child re-do the mirror drawings to see how their creative designs have progressed over time!
Modification by Age: Many leaves and flowers have multiple colors, veins running through them and/or tears in the middle or around the edges. Use additional colors or different types of crayons, pencils etc. to create texture by adding a higher degree of design to the mirror image.