Kindergarten Leaf Garland

Here's an old standby with a new twist.  This project is always a big hit with the little ones and is also my kindergartners first introduction to collage. This year we were given a HUGE bag of pre-cut tissue paper strips in  all the colors of the rainbow and we put them to good use.
To make their leaf kids drew or traced a leaf shape on a piece of white or colored paper.  They chose six strips of tissue and tore them into smaller pieces to get them ready for their collage (easier to do when hands are dry).  They brushed a little liquid starch onto their paper added some tissue colors and painted over the top to smooth the papers down.  We used the "Dip, dip, wipe" chant to encourage good brush handling and prevent glue from dripping on table tops.  After the leaves dried they carefully cut them out.

I love the leaves, but wasn't in love with how they looked pinned on the board so this year I brought them home and ran them through the sewing machine pulling the thread to form a "spacer" between each additional leaf.  Now we have a beautiful leaf garland ready for draping or hanging from the ceiling.
There are lots of wonderful children's books to pair this project with.  This year we read "Fall Leaves Fall" by Zoe Hall, "Have You Seen Trees" by Joanne Oppenheirm, and "Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf" by Lois Elhert.
My garland is in one very long string right now.  I'll probably snip it into smaller sections and hang it in front of windows.  When we're done displaying I'll snip and add a paper clip hanger so each child can take home their single hanging leaf.
Have a great day!