Leaf Name Sticky Wall

A leaf name sticky wall is a great way to work on name recognition. You can use it to practice spelling or writing names, too. This activity is inspired by Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert. I get commissions for purchases made through the affiliate links in this post.

Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert

All of the scenes in Leaf Man are made from photocopies of leaves Lois Ehlert collected when preparing to write Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf. Leaf Man has disappeared and the author wonders where he has gone. As you turn the pages of the book, you view possible places he has traveled. Did the wind blow him across a farm? Or maybe over an orchard? Did Leaf Man spend some time flying with birds? At the end you see where he has landed.

Leaf Name Sticky Wall to Practice Name Recognition

You’ll Need:

• leaves or colored paper
• scissors
• marker
• contact paper
• painter’s tape
• an empty wall

Have the leaves started to turn where you live yet? We have mostly maple trees in our neighborhood. They won’t start to change for a couple weeks, so I used green leaves for this activity. I traced the leaves and cut them out of construction paper. Construction paper leaves fuzzy bits on the sticky wall which eventually reduces the stickiness of the contact paper. I covered the paper leaves with contact paper to remedy this issue. If you use printer paper or card stock, you can skip this step as they won’t leave the fuzzy pieces behind.

Attach the contact paper to the wall sticky side out. I pull just an edge off of the sticky plastic and then tape it to the wall. Then, I finish pulling away the paper from the sticky plastic. To keep your child from pulling the contact paper off of the wall, you can tape down the edges with painter’s tape.

Write your child’s name on the leaves – one letter on each leaf. Do this a few times.

Talk to her about her name. Say each of the letters. Ask your child to find the first letter of her name.

Then find the second letter and so on.

Continue adding letters to the sticky wall to spell her name.

When all of the letters are used, have your child take the letters off. You can use this opportunity to talk about the letters too.

When I was making this activity for my toddler, my oldest wanted to practice his name on the sticky wall too. I had him cut out leaves. He added the leaves to the sticky wall – one for each letter in his name. He used a dry erase marker to write his name. (This means he can erase it and write again.) I also challenged him to write his whole first name on just one leaf. This required him to practice writing smaller. He enjoyed this writing practice so I will be using this method again.
My kids love using the sticky wall. I love how I can use it for learning activities like name recognition and name writing.

When the leaves finally turn, head outside and collect some. Then, make your own Leaf Man.

More Ideas Inspired by Leaf Man

See more leaf themed activities inspired by Leaf Man:

Learning About Letters with Leaves & Falling Leaves Song from Kori at Home
Beginning Sounds Activity: Leaf Sticker Tree from Growing Book by Book
Letter Recognition Game with Free Leaf Printable from JDaniel4’s Mom
Learn to Write Your Name with ‘Letter Man’ from Chickadee Lit
Write Your Name In Leaves from Adventures of Adam
Learning Fun With Leaves from Clare’s Little Tots
Preschool Printable Counting Leaves from CraftCreateCalm
Fall Loose Parts Sensory Invitation from My Storytime Corner
Fall Leaf Auditory Processing Activities from Sugar Aunts
Preschool Leaf Science Experiment from Preschool Powol Packets
Simple Preschool Science: Leaf Matching Activity from School Time Snippets
Giant Colorful Watercolor Fall Leaves for Kids from Toddler Approved
Basic Math with Fall Leaves for Preschoolers from Views From a Step Stool
Leaf Art ~ Prewriting Patterns for Fall from Rainy Day Mum
Leaf Tracing Pre-Writing Activity from Books and Giggles
Leaf puppets from Messy Little Monster
Number Leaf Scavenger Hunt from The Educators’ Spin On It
Follow the Leaves: Cardinal Directions and Map Skills for Kids from Extremely Good Parenting
Leaf Art – Making Scenes/People with Leaves from Mama Smiles
Exploring Leaf Shapes – Nature Walk Activity from To be a Kid Again
Leaf Shapes Fingerprint Activity from Artsy Momma

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