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These leaf bats are actually one of my kid’s ideas. We use our giant magnolia tree’s leaves for crafts all year long, and her inspiration was some paper bats that we have in the house. The leaf version will only last a season but making them could become a great tradition every October.
Leaf Bat Halloween Decorations
- Find thick, waxy leaves, like from a magnolia or red oak, and let them dry (or find some from the ground that have dried somewhat. If you can’t find a tree with thick leaves, take any leaf (that is large enough to make a bat) and press it between the pages of a large book for a few days. If the leaf isn’t dry or pressed, it will curl up a few days after you cut it.
- If the leaf is waxy, you might be able to fold it in half like I do in the picture below (if not just cut out the whole bat instead of half). Draw the shape of a half bat on the leaf as many times as will fit. Cut it out. Repeat for as many bats as you want.
- Optional: paint the leaf bats black.
- Hang on your wall with painters tape or sticky tack. To get the look of bats coming from a distance, place the smaller bats at the bottom of your design and the larger ones towards the top, and make the whole bunch fan out from the starting point.
Science!
-Bats are actually integral pollinators and hundreds of species of plants rely on them as primary pollinators.
-Bat are not blind! This is a common misconception to justify their amazing ability to echolocate, but bats actually have fantastic night vision. Recent research has even shown some bats can see well in the day time, and some even have the ability to see ultraviolet light! (PLoS One. 2009; 4(7): e6390)
-Bats can help in the management of mosquitoes. Take a look at installing bat boxes to welcome them onto your land.
Brave the Elements 