5 Days of Art with Leaves ::: PLUS two bonus leaf art ideas!!
from October 14, 2011 with added photos and comments by MaryAnn.
With as many leaves on the ground as there are on the trees, October is the perfect time to create leaf art! Have your students collect a colorful assortment of autumn leaves and explore a week of exciting leaf art activities from Art with Anything by MaryAnn Kohl!
Day 1: Basic Leaf Paint and Print
Materials:
- Leaf (any color)
- Watercolor paints andpaintbrush
- Drawing or construction paper
What to Do:
- Place a leaf on a covered workspace. Paint the leaf with watercolor paints. While the leaf is still wet, press white paper on the painted leaf, patting and pressing with your fingers to help the paper pick up the paint design.
- Lift the paper from the leaf to see the print transferred to the white paper.
Hint: Sometimes the leaf sticks to the paper and needs to be peeled away.
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Day 2: Leaf Burst
Materials:
- Leaves (real or paper cut into leaf shapes)
- Drawing paper
- Damp sponge
- Thin tempera paint or liquid watercolors in a shallow tray
What to Do:
- Choose whole, complete leaves with good edges, either fresh green leaves or supple fall leaves. If leaves are unavailable, draw bold leaf shapes on paper and cut them out to use instead.
- Hold a leaf firmly on a sheet of drawing paper with one hand. Dip a damp sponge into thin paint with the other hand. Dab all around the edges of the leaf, brushing the sponge outward from the leaf’s edge onto the paper creating a “burst” design.
- Gently lift the leaf from the paper to see the clean stencil with a brushed burst design. Make several burst on one paper, changing colors and overlapping shapes, if desired.
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Day 3: Watercolor Leaf Paint
Materials:
- Watercolor paint and paintbrush
- Drawing paper
- Leaves
What to Do:
- Cover a sheet of drawing paper with very wet watercolor paints. Paint color all over the paper without making a picture. Press leaves into the paint in any pattern or arrangement.
- Let the painting dry completely, usually overnight.
- Peel off the leaves and see the design images remaining in the paint.
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Day 4: Wiggle Leaf Design
Materials:
- 2 or 3 fresh green or supple autumn leaves or paper leaves
- Large drawing paper
- Black marker (permanent marker works best)
- Crayons, colored pencils, and markers
What to Do:
- Using the black marker, trace around two or three leaves (and no more) on paper. Color each leaf with crayons or markers.
- With a crayon or colored pencil, trace just beyond the leaf shape by ½” or so, following the shape, but not touching it. Then trace around this line, about ½” more, expanding out from the original leaf. *See image 1 with black lines.
- Do the same around each leaf with ever-expanding lines. As the expanding lines grow, lines will at some point bump into each other. Make an artistic decision about when to stop drawing lines. Even if they cross over each other, the design will be interesting and look “wiggly,” like an optical illusion. * See image 2 with lines colored in.
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Day 5: Melted Leaf Mobile
Materials:
- One large leaf, either real or cut from paper
- Electric buffet warming tray – adult supervision needed
- Mittens or work gloves to protect hands
- Old, peeled stubs of crayon
- Stick or thin tree branch from outdoors (12” – 18” long) or a paper towel tube
- String, thread, or yarn
- Paper towels or rag for clean up
Note: Although the warming tray will not get very hot on the “warm” setting, it is important to have an adult nearby at all times and to wear protective mittens or work gloves for this activity.
What to Do:
- Place a large leaf on an electric buffet warming tray (ask an adult to set the temperature on “warm”). Leaf shapes cut from paper are equally effective for this activity.
- Use a crayon to draw on the leaf. Allow the warm tray to melt the crayon as you slowly color the leaf or paper leaf shape. Try mixing several colors on the leaf if desired.
- Remove the leaf and set it aside. Color several more leaves in the same way.
- Attach each leaf to a tree branch with a different lengthof string, thread, or yarn so the leaves hang down at various levels. To hang this tree branch mobile, tie string to each end of the branch (or paper towel tube) and join them above.
Note: Electric buffet warming trays are usually available in thrift stores and yard sales. Warming trays are easy to clean: While the surface is still warm, wipe off the warm crayon with an old towel or paper towels. If you use the tray only for art, detailed cleaning is not necessary. If you plan to use the tray for non-art related activities, cover it with foil before using it for this activity.
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Art with Anything by MaryAnn Kohl is available from Kaplan and Gryphon House for $19.95 plus shipping and handling. For more books by MaryAnn Kohl or for more amazing early childhood resources, visit the Gryphon House website. MaryAnn's website is another great resource for this title.
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BONUS LEAF ART IDEA:
Leaves Like Matisse!!
Create a leaf cutting like the great master, Henri Matisse!!
Stack colored paper, from three to five sheets, or whatever number of papers you think you can cut through easily. Cut a leaf shape Matisse style from all the paper at once. Fan out the results and look them over. Then paste the shapes on a background paper in a design you enjoy.
Here's an original by Matisse: (* Oh, how I love Matisse's work!!)
Another interesting leaf art design you might enjoy sharing with kids is this abstract optional illusion. It's easier than it looks.
The basic directions are
1. Cut a leaf shape from the orange papers. (You can use any colors, and any shapes.)
2. Glue all the orange squares with the missing leaves on a background paper, in this case, yellow paper.
3. Next glue all the orange leaves in the yellow spaces. This artist chose to flip the orange leaves over, but you can do anything you like.
Easy to do. Really!!
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