Leaf Sorting Activity
The aim of this activity, Leaf Sorting, was to encourage the boys to sort leaves into different categories according to:
We started with:
- a large piece of white paper. (Well, actually, it was several pieces of A3 pasted together)
- a pile of leaves collected from a recent walk
- a list of descriptive words
- sticky tape
- texters or pens for writing
The boys were asked to pick out one leaf at a time, look at the characteristics of the leaf and then decide where to stick it on our paper. If they thought the size was the most important feature of a particular leaf, it was stuck in the size corner of the paper.
I had planned to write words under each leaf according to how the boys described the leaf.
We had a list of words to refer to: 
However, I was thrilled when the boys grabbed the pens and wanted to do their own writing!
Hooray! Don’t you just love little surprises like this when they occur?
The end result was a wonderfully ‘messy’ gigantic poster which we all worked on collaboratively!
While I had planned this activity with a focus on maths (i.e., sorting and classifying), there were the added benefits for:
- Fine motor skills (writing and manipulating sticky tape)
- Vocabulary (introducing new words such as symmetrical)
- Observational & comparing skills
- Decision making skills (choosing which category to put each leaf in)
- Social skills (working together as a team, taking turns and sharing confined spaces)
- Cognitive skills (following instructions and making up rules – where to put each leaf)
This was definitely worth doing as I hope it helped the boys to look at the details in the wonderful leaves God has created for us to enjoy.
Too often, it’s so easy to rush through life without stopping to see the beauty all around us.
Have you done a similar project? We’d love to hear about it!
Please feel free to download and print our list of descriptive words to refer to.
You may also like these activities:
 Leaf Creatures |
 42 Gardening Activities for Children |