The Leaf Café

The Leaf Café lesson plan

Who’s eating these flowers? Why do the leaves have holes? Find out which insects are feasting at The Leaf Café!

  • 1.

    Insects often dine on the leaves of trees and plants. How do you know? The leaves and flowers are filled with holes. Find out about leaf eaters where you live and then create your own Leaf Café.

  • 2.

    <STRONG>Create a leaf.</STRONG> With Crayola Scissors®, cut a paper plate and fit the pieces together to form a leaf. Trim off any extra. Use a Crayola Glue Stick to hold plates together. With the extra pieces or another plate, cut a stem. Attach it to the leaf. Color the leaf and stem with Crayola Slick Stix. Such intense colors! They just slide on the plate! Try blending colors, too.

  • 3.

    <STRONG>Design your insects</STRONG>. Use a Crayola Erasable Colored Pencil to draw bodies of dragonflies, beetles, caterpillars, red ants, or other insects on another paper plate. Color them with Slick Stix and cut them out.

  • 4.

    Draw wings on wax paper. Gently color wings on both sides and cut them out. Glue wings to bodies. Glue bugs to the leaf. Punch holes to show where bugs ate the leaf.

Benefits

  • Students learn the definition of an insect.
  • Students research common local insects that eat leaves.
  • Students demonstrate their knowledge of plant-eating insects by creating a Leaf Café.

Adaptations

  • To test students’ knowledge of bugs, ask them to draw and color pictures of them.
  • Research insects that eat other insects. Create a chart showing both types.
  • Draw plant-eating insects, insects that eat other insects, and arachnids. Compare and contrast the different types of creatures.