Ms Armit: There's more. If you were to zoom in really close to your leaves, you'd find loads of these tiny holes. These are called stomata. Both of these resources are great for use in the autumn, either in the classroom or at home, to give children a fun and engaging arts and crafts task to complete. Why are autumn art activities important for children? Ms Armit: That's right. Palisade cells are at the top of the leaves to maximise photosynthesis. This is one of the adaptations of leaves so that they maximise the amount of light they absorb for photosynthesis. Another adaptation of the plant leaves is the waxy cuticle. Ms Armit: The leaf is a major organ in plants in which photosynthesis occurs. Without photosynthesis, there'd be very little life on Earth, because when plants photosynthesise, they take in carbon dioxide, and release oxygen as a by-product. Don’t miss the opportunity read Lois Ehlert’s book Leaf Man! It’s truly a great book, and helps children better understand this leaf craft and come up with their own leaf man story too. How do you make a leaf man out of leaves?

Cal: If they've got all those chloroplasts, then you'd need them to be near the top of the leaf to get that all-important sunshine. You can take your class outside into the playground to find some large autumnal leaves to collect for use in this activity, and students can use the leaves they have collected to create their own leaf man. Upon returning home, have your children spread out all of their leaf project items on a table so that you can see if any might need time to dry first. Cal: OK. Right. My Blue Peter moment. Here's one I made earlier. Um... OK. So some nail varnish here, I'm going to pull it off. I mean, it looks like really... really bumpy. Cal: I am liking plants a lot right now, so let's find out more on how the structures of leaves help plants to photosynthesise.Cal: Right, now, I'm not I'm not saying that I don't trust you, Ms Armit, because I do, but I can't see it. So I can't be certain that those tiny holes are actually there. Add an extra step and work on counting skills, color identification and more. Have your child count each read leaf, or place each yellow leaf in a pile etc. All the leaves in the rainforest are really, really big. They're trying to utilise the sunlight which there's very little of 'cause there's so many plants everywhere. Ms Armit: Precisely. Another very important part of the leaf are the palisade cells. These are full of chloroplasts to absorb sunlight. Where in the leaf do you think the palisade cells are?

The green of the leaf is the chlorophyll, the pigment that absorbs energy from the sun. Some plants have evolved with large leaves to maximise the amount of light they can absorb, often found under forest canopies where they struggle for exposure to light. A leaf usually has a large surface area, so that it can absorb a lot of light. Its top surface is protected from water loss, disease and weather damage by a waxy layer. My name is Katie I work at the Eden Project, and I'm a skilled horticulturist. I work in the outside gardens. Oh, so it's like staying on top of the leaf there. So that must be because of the waxy layer - the cuticle. The lower part of the leaf is a spongy layer with loose-fitting cells. These let carbon dioxide reach the other cells in the leaf due to the air spaces around them, and also let the oxygen produced in photosynthesis leave the leaf easily. Water

I’ve found that it’s helpful for young children to sketch out the “body” of a person on a sheet of paper. It’s used as a template for them to see how they want to glue their leaves to create the leaf person craft. If your children are older, they probably don’t need this extra step! You can see here, there's holes in the leaf, and with a lot of air moving from the waterfall, these holes stop the leaf from ripping.

Cal: OK. Right. I'll do this one here. So I'll put some on that side. Put some on the other side, like that. So is this what people mean by a well-manicured plant? When the old lady who cares for their garden home becomes ill, lost in the dreams of the past, a group of brave good bugs, advised by a mysterious lost toy, set out on an epic quest to find the fabled Leaf Men, and ask for their aid. Climbing to the very top of the highest tree, a troupe of doodlebugs brave storms and confront a threatening Spider Queen, eventually finding that their perseverance is rewarded, when the elfin Leaf Men do indeed appear, once called. All is set to rights again in the neglected garden, but to aid the old lady, it is found that the lost toy must once again play a part... This free nature craft for kids is one of our very favorites, because it’s truly zero prep and you don’t have to spend any money to have a great finished product. This fall craft is the perfect activity for the fall season, because each time your child create leaf creatures they are new and different! Here are the simple step-by-step directions: Different plants from different parts of the world have different adaptations to help them conserve water. This plant is really well adapted to the Mediterranean climate where it doesn't rain very much, so it's got these leaf hairs which helps capture that water.Ms Armit: Ha-ha. Leave that one to dry. There's one already over there that's done. Going to go and peel off some of the nail polish and tell me what you see. Challenge them to see how many leaves they can find around the neighborhood, or how many different kinds of leaves. While on your nature walk, encourage your children to keep their eyes out for any leaf people they see along the way! I recommend having each child find at least 15 leaves of various sizes so that they have plenty of options for creating their own Leaf Men later. A horticulturist is someone that looks after the plants through their lifecycle, we'll feed them and water them, train them or prune them as they get too big. Plants get the carbon dioxide they need from the air through their leaves. It moves by diffusion through small holes in the underside of the leaf called stomata. Guard cells control the size of the stomata so that the leaf does not lose too much water in hot, windy or dry conditions.

Ms Armit: That's the waxy cuticle. It's on the surface of the leaf and its main job is to prevent water loss as the plant needs this water. It also protects the plant. See what happens when you pour water all over the leaf. Leaves are important for life to exist on Earth. They provide food and oxygen for almost every living organism on our planet. Ms Armit: I told you. If you had a microscope, you would be able to see this even better. The stomata allows gases to flow in and out of the leaves. The water needed for photosynthesis is absorbed through the roots and transported through tubes to the leaf. Making a Leaf Man is so much fun, and a great way to incorporate learning about the autumn season! This fun craft works on fine motor skills, visual-spatial skills well as simple science and conversations about our environment.Leaves come in all different shapes and sizes. They all have the same basic setup. All leaves are used for photosynthesising in a plant, and that feeds the plant. You've got the midrib, and the veins, and the edge, and the leaf stem, which is called the petiole.