Botanical Rubbing Art

Rubbings are magical for children--as they press the crayon to the paper, the image gradually appears.

Photo credit:  Seth Chrisman

Besides beautiful botanical prints, you can also make a game of the rubbings and place a mystery object underneath the paper.  As the image appears, your artist can guess what it is!  I used puzzle pieces, keys, sandpaper, and books with raised embossing.

Here's what you need:

plain white paper

tape

crayons with the paper removed

leaves or other objects with interesting texture

Here's what you do:

*tape a piece of paper to the table.

*place the leave or other object under the paper.

*secure with tape

*show your child how to hold the crayon flat side down and press rather firmly to rub the crayon up and down over the paper.

The same technique can be used to make bark rubbings on a tree trunk.

A tree's bark is like its protective outer skin.  You can sometimes identify trees by examining the bark

My Friend Tree (a poem)

My friend tree, my friend tree

Roots on you are like feet on me!

My friend tree, my friend tree

Trunk on you is like trunk on me!

My friend tree, my friend tree

Bark on you is like skin on me!

My friend tree, my friend tree

Branches on you are like arms on me!

My friend tree, my friend tree

Leaves on you are like hands on me!

GREAT books about TREES! (click on link for listing)