Fall Tree Q-tip Painting

So fall is here and our fall crafts are in full force. We did this adorable craft the other day.  Living in Los Angeles we don't get true seasons like other parts of the country, but I'm trying to teach Dylan, Jake and Emma about fall and the leaves changing colors. We've been reading various books about fall and the leaves on the trees are finally starting to change colors.  This project tied in everything we have been talking about.

This is a great art project to do, not only to help your little one understand the season of fall, but also work on fine motor skills with the painting.

Here's what you need:
- book(s) about fall (optional)
- white paper
- paint: brown, orange , green, yellow & red
- paper plate
- paint brush
- baby wipes
- q-tips

On this day we began the project by reading one of our favorite books, a Clifford's puppy days book called  Apple-Picking Day by Samantha Brooke where it talks about fall.
Then we looked out the window and observed the color of a tree trunk. I told them today their arm was going to be the trunk of our tree and their fingers were going to be the branches. I painted their arm using a paint brush and brown washable paint, had them spread their fingers and immediately pressed their arm onto the paper. (I have baby wipes on stand by to wipe the paint off right away!)

Tree trunk

While the paint from the "trunks" were drying we took a nature walk outside to look at the leaves on the trees and collect leaves off the ground that have already fallen. They loved this!  So simple, yet so exciting for them. They each had a little baggie to put the leaves they collected in so it could act as their inspiration for the project we were going to go complete.
By the time we finished our nature walk our trunks were dry and we were ready to paint our leaves on our masterpieces. We talked about all the different color leaves we saw and as we said each color I put the paint on their paint palette (aka a paper plate).

Our paint palettes

Then it was time to introduce the Q-tips. They were so excited to see they would get to make polka dots to symbolize the leaves. It's always fun to find new objects for them to paint with and Q-tips are great for fine motor skills. Plus they are cheap and you toss them when you are done!  (For younger kids, you could modify this and have them do it with finger prints instead.)

Emma busy at work

Jake very focused

Dylan having fun

I encouraged them to fill in the top part of their trunk and branches and then to make it look like the leaves were falling down. I also told them to try and add grass at the bottom. Those were the only directions I gave. They did excellent. Their artwork is so different, but they were all perfect!

                                   
This art project took up a good portion of our morning and they were so proud to display them in the kitchen window for daddy to see for when he got home from work. I backed each of them on a different color piece of construction paper to add some more color and make them stand out since we were hanging them up.  They are the perfect decoration for your home this fall!  Enjoy!