We’re talking about fall this week, most specifically, fall leaves. I had a bunch of fun art projects on the leaf theme, so I crammed them all into one morning of fun!

1. Leaf prints. We made prints from pliable leaves gathered from yard — just dipped them in tempera paint and stamped away.

2. Watercolor leaves. The kids used watercolors to embellish some simple leaf shapes on white paper. When they were dry, I cut them out and glued them to black paper. (G insisted on a crayon on one of his leaves, so this turned to be a “mixed medium” piece.)

3. Reflection leaf paintings. The kids squeezed drops of tempera onto more leaf patterns, then folded the papers in half and pressed. What a surprise effect!

4. Leaf suncatchers. This activity is always a bit hit with G! We grated fall-colored crayons in my cheese grater. (The static electricity was awful! We had shavings all over the place!)

We sprinkled them onto waxed paper….

….then sealed them with another piece and insulated it with dish towels. A few swishes back and forth with a warm iron and it was ready. I cut out simple black paper leaf shapes, hollowed them out, and trimmed the suncatcher paper to fit. Voila! Fall is indoors, too, for us to enjoy.