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Autumn Leaves Make a Wreath

© Peggy Hoehne

In the autumn, we see the leaves on the trees start to turn many different colors. You may have heard someone say it is Jack Frost who causes the trees to change color. They say that when he brings the frost, it creates the beautiful patterns and colors of the leaves.

There is a Native American myth that says hunters in the Heavens killed the Great Bear in autumn and blood dripped over the leaves, coloring some red. As the hunters cooked the meat, fat dripped from the Heavens and colored some of the leaves yellow.

Trees make their own food during the summer. They take water from the ground, carbon dioxide from the air, and sunlight and turn it into something called chlorophyll. It gives leaves their green color.

As the days get shorter, there is less sunlight and less water. The plants gradually quit making food and there is no more chlorophyll. The yellow and orange colors were always in the leaves, but the green was stronger. The bright red and purple colors come from glucose (sugar) that is trapped in the leaves. Brown colors come from tannin, a bitter waste product. Different combinations of these give us many colors each fall.

We are going to make a wreath you can use for Halloween or Thanksgiving.

Autumn Wreath

Supplies:

• Paper plate
• Construction paper in autumn colors (orange, red, yellow, brown, and other earth tones) or Halloween colors (orange and black)
• Scissors
• Glue or a glue stick
• Hole punch
• Ribbon (autumn colors or black)

Directions:

• Cut the center out of a plain paper plate.
• Punch two holes through the top of the plate about 2 inches apart.
• Cut out a lot of leaves from construction paper.
• Glue the leaves all around the rim of the paper plate.
• Run the ribbon through both holes and tie a bow at the top of the leaves.
• Hang the Wreath from the long loop of the ribbon.

Possible Variations:

• Trace your child's handprint and cut it out in various colors of construction paper instead of drawing leaves.
• For a Halloween wreath, add a black cat or some bats.
• For Thanksgiving, add some fruit or vegetable shapes to the leaves (apples, pears, corn, pumpkins).
• Find real leaves outside and glue them to the paper plate.

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