Fall is, by far, my favorite season. I hadn’t really experienced the change in seasons until we moved to Colorado. Seven years later, I still can’t get enough of the colors brought about by fall. Every year, we like to take a drive up to the mountains to see the famed Aspens changing colors, but the truth is that I don’t even have to leave the street we live on to experience the breathtaking fall hues.
My kids can’t wait for the leaves to fall of our trees so they can help us rake them, make a huge pile and jump in! But this fall, I wanted to something different with the leaves. So I looked for a fun, but simple craft the kids and I could do that would somehow incorporate the leaves and language and this is what I came up with: Gratitude cards in Spanish using fall leaves. Not only is it super simple, but it requires few materials, which you most likely have at home or can easily get at your local Walmart.
First thing we did was take a lovely and leisurely walk around our neighborhood looking for the best and most unique leaves we could find. It didn’t take long for us to fill a bag full of leaves, like the ones you see above. When we got back home, I helped the kids choose their favorite ones and we got to work. First, we pressed them by putting them between the pages of some pretty heavy art books. Ideally, you leave them there for a few days, we left ours for just two.
Once they were pressed, we coated them with a mixture of glue and water to prevent the leaves from getting too brittle. This was my son’s favorite part because he loved showing me he could do it all by himself! We then let them dry on wax paper for several hours before we got started on the actual cards.
All you need is some card stock, more glue and a marker. The kids glued the leaves onto the cards, I used a Sharpie to write “Gracias por…” on the front, below each leave and then I let them write whatever message they wanted inside. My son doesn’t know how to write yet, but he just learned to spell his name, so that’s what he did. My daughter got to practice her Spanish writing skills and had a great time writing gratitude cards to our family members and friends. We plan on giving these out in Thanksgiving!
Disclosure: As a participant in the Walmart Moms Program, I’ve received product samples and compensation for my time and efforts in creating this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
