Crayon Rubbing

Crayon Rubbing

Most adults have done a crayon rubbing or two as kids themselves. This makes a game out of an art activity and doesn't require too much effort on the part of parents.

Make the Crayon Rubbings

It's best to show kids how to make one before they begin their hunt. Peel the paper off of an old crayon, set a piece of paper on a leaf or something with an interesting texture, just for demonstration purposes, and rub the crayon over the paper until the texture or shape outline starts to show through.

How to Play:

1. Once the group knows how to make a crayon rubbing, ask the kids to run around the yard to make crayon rubbings of as many different types of leaves as they can in 25 minutes.
2. Encourage them to look closely and find leaves of varying shapes, sizes, and even leaves that have special features (like tears, bug bite marks, etc.). To save your landscaping, tell them that the leaves must already be lying on the ground.
3. The child that comes back with the most crayon rubbings of different types of leaves is the winner.
4. To continue playing, kids can go back out to make as many crayon rubbings as they can of different tree trunks, rocks, or anything else with an interesting surface.