If your toddler has recently collected leaves on a nature walk, here’s a simple way to turn them into a costume for make-believe: make a leaf mask!

I cut a paper plate in half and held it up to Veronika’s face so I could mark the location of her eyes and nose.

Cut out eye holes, then snip two sides of a triangle where the nose is (this will help it sit better on your child’s face). Next, Veronika helped glue down the leaves we had collected. She loved painting on the glue with a paint brush while I arranged the leaves in overlapping rows as best I could. If you prefer less mess, you can attach the leaves with tape, too.

Once the glue dried, I punched a hole on each side, and added string.

Tie around your child’s face and let their imagination do the work from here! Veronika immediately began humming Darth Vader’s theme song and doing his deep raspy breathing.

Clearly this was a Star Wars mask in her view! But perhaps your toddler will pretend to be a woodland fairy, or a tree, or anything else that fires up the imagination.

One way or another, this is a beautiful way to tie together a nature walk with a little bit of arts and crafts.