Fall Tree Painting

Ready to celebrate the start of fall? Make your very own fall tree painting! This activity is great for preschoolers and early school age children as they learn to identify the characteristics of fall colors. This fall tree painting will allow children to practice fine motor skills as they draw, trace, color, and paint, and these skills will be strengthened as this is a great age for them to develop. If you do not have the correct colors of paint available, this is a great opportunity to encourage creativity or teach about the way colors mix to form new colors. Their painting can act as a beautiful decoration in any room, and children will find joy in seeing their artwork hanging.

Materials:

• Cardstock/construction paper

• Acrylic paints (orange, brown, red, yellow)

• Brown marker

• Pencil

HEADS UP: This activity is fun for younger kids, although can be enjoyed by older ones as well, and it will get a little messy! Adults should be near by to supervise and help clean up or prevent any mess!

Step 1: Tracing your hand

First, lay a tablecloth or clear plastic sheet underneath your paper! This will keep your workspace from getting dirty with any paint or marker messes. Next, place your hand in the middle of your paper. Your hand and part of your arm will be the trunk and the branches of your tree! Trace both your hand and your arm with a pencil first, in case there are any parts you want to do over. When you love the way your branches and trunk look, go over the pencil outline with a brown marker. Then, color the inside of your trunk and branches with the brown marker.

Step 2: Setting up your paint

The colors of paint that I used are orange, brown, red, and yellow. If you do not have these colors, do not fear! You can always mix other colors to make these colors, or you can pick other colors that you want your leaves to be! It is your tree and your creation! When you have your colors picked out, set them up in front of you, so you are ready to use them while painting.

TIP FOR MXING: Yellow and red will make orange. Red, yellow, and blue will make brown

Step 3: Painting your leaves

Place the tip of your finger into a color of paint and then place your finger on the paper to make a dot of paint. These dots will be the leaves of your tree! Paint as many dots as you would like in the first color that you choose. Next, clean your finger and start painting again with a new color. Repeat this step with as many colors as you would like. You can paint as many “leaf dots” as you want for your tree. Have fun with this part, and make your tree look how you want it to! If you want to add more of a color you have already used, just clean your finger and use that paint again. If you do not want to use your fingers to paint, grab a brush, an acorn, maybe even a real leaf from outside!

Step 4: Letting it dry

Finally, let your painting dry for about an hour (or until all the paint is dry).

Remember to let it dry completely so that your paint does not smear or run down the paper!

When your painting is done drying, it is time to hang it up and show it off!