‘Leaf Man’ drifts into Story Hour

By Dottie Dewberry For the WPT


Ms. Mary chose “Leaf Man” by Lois Ehlert as the story of the day. Leaf Man used to live in the yard, but one day the wind came along and blew him away. The last time we saw him he was headed east, past everything in his way, because Leaf Man has to go where the wind blows.

Eventually, he drifted west past all kinds of vegetables and animals, amazingly enough, all the creatures were made of leaves. Finally, Leaf Man headed south because Leaf Man has to go where the wind blows. Sometimes he flew over mountains, across prairies, over lakes, and rivers. Where is Leaf Man now? No one knows because he has to go where the wind blows.

The children got to see pictures of poplar, fig, cottonwood, birch, beech, elm, hawthorn, linden, plus a whole bag of real leaves that Ms. Mary had collected for the children. They each got a sheet of white paper, glue, and a bunch of leaves with the instructions to choose a head, a body, two arms and two legs. The kids were going to make Leaf Man and carry him home with them.

Next they got the naked crayons (no covers), a white paper sheet and a leaf. The leaf was turned upside down, placed under the paper, and then the kids used the crayon to rub across the leaf. This is called a leaf rubbing. Everything turned out great; suitable for framing.

But the most fun is always the Play-Doh. Everything is fun, including getting the dough out of the can. Next came the smashing and cutting with the letters or the scissors as the children spelled out their name or just cut whatever was in front of them.