Smell the leaves

Yesterday we went to the Ned Smith Center for a leaf walk. First we sat in the sunshine on a bridge over the creek while I read "Why Do Leaves Change Color?". They each decided what kind of leaf they would like to try and find. Hadley picked Sassafras, Corb picked Maple and Lennon picked Oak. We filled a bag with beautiful leaves. Each of the children did a tree bark rub. We did a silent walk, where we didn't talk we just listened to hear what we could hear. We heard a lot of things-birds, crickets and leaves falling. We smelled the leaves-I love that fall smell. After our walk we visited the gift shop inside. I picked up two tree books-one is a fall leaf identification book, the other an activity book for kids involving trees, bark and leaves.

Today, since it is raining, we are going to use our leaves to do leaf rubbings. I want to have Corby make a book of his rubbings. I am going to help him identify what tree the leaves are from. We are also going to take a look at Violins and Fiddles. I am toying with the idea of making soft pretzels. I was going to do them tomorrow but since it is going to rain today maybe we will do them today..but on the other hand it is going to be much cooler tomorrow.