How to Press Flowers & Leaves

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Learning to press leaves or flowers makes a good science project for young children. Here are some tips to make these materials last longer than they do in nature.

Step 1: Collect flowers or leaves
Collect some interesting flowers or leaves.

Step 2: Dry the flowers or leaves in newspaper
Place the flowers or leaves between two sheets of newspaper, and let them flatten and dry under some heavy weights for at least one day.

Step 3: Remove the leaves or flowers from the newspaper
Remove the partially dried flowers or leaves when they are free of any surface moisture.

Step 4: Place each leaf or flower inside a book
Insert each flower or leaf, separately sandwiched between two sheets of wax paper, in the pages of a large book. Leave about 100 pages, or 0.125 inches, between pressings.

Tip
Choose a book that you no longer use or need. This will prevent any damage to books you want to keep.

Step 5: Apply weight to the book
Place heavy weights on the book.

Step 6: Press the leaves or flowers for a couple weeks
Leave the flowers or leaves in the book for a couple of weeks before removing them.

Tip
Insert labels of where you found the leaves or flowers, or if you were given the flowers, include the card in the pressing.

Step 7: Store the leaves or flowers in an album
Store the pressed leaves or flowers in an album. Enjoy looking at them and capturing the memories of nature.

Did You Know?
The color change of leaves in the fall is due to chemical transformations in the leaf pigments.