TREE COSTUMES
Materials required: string, enough paper bags so everyone gets one, crayons, paper, and leaves (optional).
At least 5 minutes needed for preparation time.
This activity is appropriate for all ages.
An entire afternoon visit (1 hour) can be used for this activity.

    This is a great activity for october when the leaves are falling and halloween is right around the corner.
    To begin, you can talk about why leaves change color, when they change, and why they fall off the trees. You can also discuss the parts of a tree, like roots, the trunk, and the leaves. Then, pass out paper and crayons to everyone and have them do leaf rubbings. (Or, if you have collected colorful leaves beforehand, pass those out.) Next, cut a paper bag "vest" for each kid - do this by cutting out arm holes and a head hole for the smaller ones and by cutting up the sides and a head hole for bigger kids.
    After everyone has their vest, have them glue their leaves or leaf rubbings onto them, and cut small pieces of string to attach at the bottom of the vest to represent roots.


Activities