Summer and autumn are wonderful times for children to experience nature in its full glory. At such times, the natural world is brimming with colourful flora and fauna, and it’s a spectacular feast for their eyes and senses. Outdoors, little ones can learn an enormous amount about the natural world around them, enjoy some fresh air and freedom – under supervision, of course — and reap the many, profound benefits that nature will provide. With this in mind, today’s post focuses on the rich variety of leaves that children can be encouraged to look out for in a leaf nature hunt activity.
We’ve generated a free reference poster for the activity, which is available for download today. The poster features 16 leaf varieties that children can look out for as part of their leaf-spotting challenge. Those under five will enjoy the simple activity of discovering leaves of different colours, shapes, and sizes — many are beautiful and intricate if they take the opportunity to take a closer look. Older children can be challenged to take things further by learning how to recognise and name the different types. Our free reference poster will help. Take a look below and download a free leaf reference poster today. And be sure to visit this blog area again soon, as we’ll follow up with some creative leaf art activities in the near future. Happy foraging!
Grab Your Child’s Free Poster!
Click the preview image below to either download or view the leaf reference poster in high resolution. On most devices, a right-click is the correct approach if you’d like to save the poster file. (It’s an Acrobat PDF that’s less than 2MB in size, so it should not take long to download, even on a mobile device). We recommend printing it from the Acrobat file using your highest-quality settings and paper. It will print in high definition up to A3, but children may also find an A4 or A5 leaflet size print-out beneficial during their outdoor leaf hunt. Use the little tick boxes to mark each type of leaf as it’s successfully discovered.
Points for Children to Note
Encourage children to take a deep, close-up look at the leaves. Many are quite beautiful and incredibly intricate up close. For example:
Point out the huge variety of different shapes, sizes, and textures of leaves in the natural world.- Draw children’s attention to the stalk (a.k.a. ‘petiole’), central midrib, and veins that support the structure of each leaf.
- Suggest your child holds the different leaves up to the light, so they can see the fine filigree of miniature channels (called venules) that transport moisture and nutrients to all parts of a leaf.
- Children can note the different types of seeds that grow with the various leaves. From conkers, acorns, and hazelnuts to winged seeds like those on a sycamore or acer, nature really is miraculous when you think about it.
- A special mention goes to lime leaves. From mid-summer to autumn, they feature quite beautiful seed clusters that are both functional and highly decorative. See the example on the 3rd row, 2nd from the right, on the reference poster.
- Oak leaves feature their wonderful acorn sprigs in summer and early autumn. These are also rather gorgeous if you take time to admire them. However, always ensure babies, toddlers, and young children are kept safe from the potential choking hazard represented by the acorns themselves.
- Ivy leaves look quite unique once their distinctive flower clusters appear. These are much-loved by pollinators and will usually attract a wide variety that includes hoverflies, honeybees, butterflies, and many more.
- Ivy is also one of only four featured leaves that are evergreen. Others on the poster are holly, laurel, and rhododendron. These are a good opportunity to teach children the difference between evergreen and deciduous, particularly come autumn.
Point out the huge variety of different shapes, sizes, and textures of leaves in the natural world.In their own way, many leaves are every bit is stunning as flowers for those who take a moment to examine them closely. Encourage little ones to take the time to ponder the fabulous fine details!
Ash or Elder? Hazel or Lime?
There are a few leaves that may, at first, seem a little tricky to tell apart. Ash leaves, for example, are similar to elder. However, there are significantly more ash leaves on each stem than there are elder leaves. While elder typically has between 5 and 7 ‘compound’ leaves per stem, ash usually has up to 15. Ash leaves also have a subtle sheen, while elder leaves are more matte in comparison.
Another pair that can be easily mistaken for one another are hazel and lime, particularly before the seeds/flowers have appeared. Hazel, however, is very matte in finish, while lime is shinier.
More Free Stuff!
Today’s leaf reference poster is just one of a series of free activity posters available to children at this website. Why not check out — and download — some of the others for your child today? Others include a Spring Nature Hunt activity poster, an Autumn Nature Hunt poster, a British Land Mammals poster, a Minibeast spotting poster, a Bird-spotting poster, and a Butterfly spotting poster packed with beautiful butterflies. Visit the links and download for free.
Little Acorns: Your Padiham Nursery
A High-Quality Childcare Nursery in Padiham, Lancashire
We hope you and your little one(s) enjoy the leaf nature hunt and that the reference poster is useful. We like to encourage families to enjoy the natural world, as we know how hugely beneficial nature is to children. During their time at Little Acorns Nursery in Padiham, children also get to enjoy nature in the nursery’s garden. It has its own nature zone where little ones can look for flora and fauna and enjoy outdoor play in a safe and secure environment.
Little Acorns Nursery supports free, funded childcare hours for eligible children aged from 9 months to 4 years. The setting is recognised by Ofsted as a good childcare provider. To explore the opportunity of sending your baby, toddler, or preschooler to Little Acorns Nursery in Padiham, get in touch today:
We are a nursery in Padiham (BB12) in Lancashire, providing high-quality weekday childcare to local families in Padiham as well as Hapton, Rose Grove, Burnley, Altham, Huncoat, Read, Simonstone, Sabden, Higham, and Wood End.
Safety Notes
Children, particularly the youngest, should, of course, be accompanied and supervised outdoors by a responsible adult. There are many hazards out there! Adults should therefore be vigilant at all times, do their own risk assessments, and educate children about safety outdoors. A few examples of possible dangers include berries, fungi, nettles, prickly thorns, etc., so teach children not to touch them. Encourage little ones not to collect anything that may be a choking hazard to babies and toddlers (acorns, for example) or that may be poisonous or toxic. Keep children away from physical hazards, including ponds, lakes, steep drops, traffic, roads, strangers, etc. With the right supervision, children will have fun, learn a lot, and stay safe.
Attention working families: applications are now open for eligible children, aged from only 9 months, to receive 1140 hours of free childcare per year from September 2025. What’s noteworthy is that this will be the first time such young infants and toddlers can access so many free hours. It effectively doubles the number of free childcare hours previously available to those under 2 via the scheme. The new, extended funding is for eligible working families, who now have until the 31st of August to apply if they would like their child(ren) to start in the September 2025 term.
This newly extended scheme will be profoundly beneficial to parents, children, the business world, and the economy. Let’s take a look:
The funded childcare is for children of working parents with earnings within the specific range outlined below. Under this scheme, children receiving the free hours from the September 2025 term must be aged no less than 9 months old on 1st September 2025 and free funding for those who remain eligible is available right up until school age.
As our families regularly confirm, Little Acorns in Padiham is a highly-regarded childcare nursery that attracts 
Bluebells also come in pink or white. They’re referred to as pinkbells (also known as pink bluebells and Spanish bluebells) and whitebells (or white bluebells).
Does your child know about bee nectar baskets? Those are the little yellow leg pouches that can be seen on some bumblebees’ and honeybees’ legs. They are where the bees collect and store their nectar ready to transport back to the hive.
We’ve said before — and we’ll keep on saying — nature is incredibly good for children and adults alike. But what are some of the benefits, and why is nature so important to children? Well, we wrote an article about it and you can read our top 
One fantastic way to encourage children to connect with nature from an early age is by making homemade bird feeders. It’s a hugely popular activity amongst children of all ages, so today’s post is all about how to get started with your child. Although bird feeders can be made at any time of the year, the activity is perfectly suited to the winter and early spring. At this time, wild birds like robins, blackbirds, doves, and sparrows are really struggling to find food. And, with World Wildlife Day arriving in the first week of March, it’s very timely. Take a look!
A large, dry pine cone
Tie a piece of string securely around the top of the pine cone to create a hanger. Then, let your child spread peanut butter all over the pine cone using a spoon or butter knife. Next, roll the sticky pine cone in a tray of birdseed until it is fully coated. Once completely covered in birdseed, hang it outside on a tree branch or hook and watch as birds come to enjoy their treats!
Carefully thread the string through the outer shell of the monkey nuts, tying knots if needed to keep them spaced apart. Once you have a long garland, either tie the ends together to form a loop that can be suspended vertically or attach each end to stretch them horizontally between branches of twigs on a tree or bush. Once birds are used to the new addition to the garden, watch as blue tits, great tits and others enjoy cracking open the shells!
Cut out one or more large holes on the sides of the carton to create openings (adults should do this part for younger children). Thread can be attached at the top – try trapping it under the lid or get an adult to thread it through a hole. Let your child decorate the feeder with paint, stickers, or non-toxic markers. Fill the carton up to the opening(s) with birdseed and hang it up in your garden or balcony.
A clean, empty clear plastic water bottle
There are a few options for this type of bird feeder, as indicated in the photo examples. Either way, small feeding holes or ‘hatches’ will need to be cut (by a supervising adult) as openings. Optionally, cut small holes on opposite sides of the bottle and insert wooden spoons or sticks through them to create perches. Fill the bottle with birdseed and tie a string to hang it outside. Watch as birds land on the perches and enjoy their treats!
Expose some of an apple’s sides by removing some of the skin. Then, either attach string through (or around) the apple and hang it from a branch outside, or push a stick into it (carefully aimed away from you in case it goes right through) and push the other end into the ground. Watch as birds peck away at the tasty treat! Blackbirds, in particular, love apples!
Our personal favourite and key recommendation is sunflower hearts. These are the little kernels inside sunflower seeds and the good news is that by buying them as sunflower ‘hearts’, birds don’t need to remove the shells. Robins, blackbirds, doves, dunnocks, bluetits, great tits and pigeons love them! They’re generally inexpensive, in our experience, and are available widely, including in supermarkets.
Once your bird feeder is in place, keep an eye out for common garden birds. Typically, birds that are attracted to bird feeders in gardens include robins, bluetits, sparrows, and dunnocks although it does depend on what food you put out for them. Children are also likely to see larger birds like blackbirds, doves, pigeons, magpies and even crows, as they are likely to scavenge underneath for seeds that have dropped from the feeders. To help children identify which birds visit, ensure you have printed out our 
Pyjamarama is a one-day fundraising event that’s organised through the children’s reading charity BookTrust. It takes place each year across a variety of UK settings including homes, schools, preschools, nurseries and more. As well as being great fun for those organising and taking part, the initiative is beneficial to millions of disadvantaged children. The ultimate aim is to raise money to fund the purchase of books and resources, so that every child in the UK gets the chance for bedtime stories and each family has proper reading opportunities. The initiative is hugely popular, great fun, and transforms lives. Today, we take a look at what to expect, how to get involved, and the many benefits of Pyjamarama.
Pyjamarama is always a fun day for both adults and children. The added aspect of pyjamas makes it special, quirky and relaxed. And, at the end of the day, it’s incredibly worthwhile. Not only does it raise money to give disadvantaged children and their families opportunities for reading and bedtime stories, but it also encourages those children taking part in Pyjamarama to read more, for pleasure as much as anything. Additionally, it gives children a different perspective and encourages altruism and empathy for others less fortunate than themselves.
Our Padiham nursery had its annual inspection by the local Environmental Health Officer recently. The purpose was to ensure, as required in all settings serving food, that Little Acorns Nursery has high standards of hygiene and follows the food preparation guidelines specified by the UK’s Food Standards Agency. Once again, Little Acorns Nursery passed with flying colours, achieving a full 5-star rating. That’s the best rating possible and reflects the highest levels of quality for food preparation, the food itself, cleanliness, and competence of staff. So, our thanks and utmost respect go to Kim, our in-house chef/cook, whose high standards, skill and expertise do the children and the nursery proud.
Because the recipe heavily involved potatoes, this also tied in nicely with the book Supertato, which our preschoolers have been looking at in tandem with discussions about food and the importance of a healthy diet. The photo shows one of the children peeling potatoes. Others peeled vegetables and even made their own dumplings. The fun activity helped to nurture children’s learning and the development of new skills and knowledge. The final result was both tasty and a huge hit with the little ones!
Shrove Tuesday, a.k.a. Pancake Day, arrived on the 13th of February and it gave us a great opportunity to organise pancake-themed activities for the nursery/preschool children … for the entire week! After all, who doesn’t love pancakes? So, as you’ve no doubt guessed by now, our Recipe of the Month for February was home-made pancakes and it’s a recipe the children really enjoyed getting involved in. They loved mixing ingredients in a bowl to make their own pancake mix. We even set up a ‘Pancake Bar’ (see the main photo at the top), which included lots of yummy toppings that children could use to decorate their pancakes. The toppings included strawberries, bananas, chocolate spread, jam, lemon, sprinkles, honey and cream.
Valentine’s Day, which arrived on the 14th of February, also involved lots of food. After all, as the saying goes, it is often thought of as the language of love! At the nursery, we organised a lovely Grab ‘n’ Go Breakfast for our parents. This was followed by a special 3-course Valentine’s Day meal for our children in our lovely new dining room, which was set up like a little restaurant (see the photos). Children had sausage rolls to start, cheesy chicken and red pepper pasta for the main course and strawberry mousse – with sprinkles – for pudding. Accompanying this was some delicious blackcurrant juice. It all went down a treat with our nursery children, as did several other activities that were themed towards Valentine’s Day.
Kim, our talented in-house chef, prepares tasty home-made meals and healthy snacks for children at the nursery. Meals are prepared freshly, on site, using high-quality ingredients, which are locally sourced whenever possible. They are delicious as well as being nutritionally balanced to include a healthy mix of fish, meat, pulses and vegetables. 
At the time of writing, it’s peak butterfly-spotting time — more adult butterflies can be seen in late July and early August than at any other time in the year. That makes it the perfect time for children to get out in nature to spot these charming creatures. Doing so is fun, educational and also beneficial in so many ways – we’ll explain more about that later.