• Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Putting the Pretty In Preschool

Finding Beauty In Everyday Early Childhood Experiences

  • About Me
  • Sensory Play
  • Holidays
  • Places
  • Picture Book Themes
  • Growing Things
  • Ocean
  • Contact Me

Horse Chestnut Leaf Art Activities

October 12, 2020 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

Tweet
Share
Share
Pin
A horse chestnut leaf featured in five easy to do art projects that are suitable for all ages.

Horse chestnut tree leaves are sizable and showy and have that “wow” factor.  They are deep green compound leaves with five to seven leaflets that live on a tree that is beautiful throughout the seasons. The palmate leaves are showcased along with large, spiked flowers in spring. They turn golden yellow in autumn and are accompanied by dramatic, prickly lime green fruits that are coverings for ultra-smooth nut-like seeds called conkers. The leaves are a spectacular subject for art. Featured in this post are five horse chestnut leaf art activities that are easy to do with your early learners.


Horse chestnut tree flowers in spring.
Flowers in spring.

Horse chestnut tree with fruit in autumn.
Leaves and fruit in autumn.

Horse chestnut tree conkers on the left, and broken fruit casings on the right.
Conkers and empty fruit casings.

Horse Chestnut Leaf Art Activities

Leaf Print

Set a horse chestnut leaf face down on a table with a paintbrush and tempera paint. Invite your child to paint the leaf, turn it over, and press it down on a sturdy piece of art paper.

Horse chestnut leaf paint print invitation.

Have your little one rub all over the painted leaf carefully, and remove it from the paper.

Horse chestnut leaf paint print in a black and white color scheme.

A blackish paint produces an unexpected, striking black and white color scheme.

Horse chestnut leaf paint print in a black and white color scheme.

Leaf Dot Art

Invite your little learner to place a large horse chestnut leaf on a piece of paper, and decorate the area around it with dot markers.

Dot marker art with a horse chestnut leaf.

Horse chestnut leaves are perfect for dot marker art.

Removing the leaf reveals a white silhouette.

Horse chestnut leaf dot marker art.

Watercolor Resist Leaf

On a large, sturdy piece of paper, help your child trace around a horse chestnut leaf with a black pastel crayon. Carefully remove the leaf, and encourage your little one to add a midrib and veins to the leaflets. Offer a paintbrush and containers of liquid watercolors for painting the drawing. Food coloring hues mixed with small amounts of water can also be used.

Horse chestnut leaf watercolor resist art project set up.

Horse chestnut leaf watercolor resist art project.

View a video tutorial of this watercolor resist leaf art project.

Watercolor resist leaf art video tutorial.

Crayon Relief Leaf

Ask your early learner to place the compound leaf under a piece of thin paper. Offer a selection of peeled crayons.  Have your little one rub over the leaf with crayons held upright or laid flat.

A pastel rainbow color scheme adds softness to this art project.

Horse chestnut leaf rubbing with crayons.

Foil Leaf Rubbing

Place a horse chestnut leaf face down on a table. Lay a slightly larger piece of aluminum foil over it. Help your child gently press the foil over and around the midribs, veins, petiole, and edges of the leaf.

Horse chestnut leaf aluminum foil rubbing set up.

Horse chestnut leaf aluminum foil rubbing.

If you are lucky enough to have a horse chestnut tree close to where you live, it can be fabulous to study and photograph throughout the seasons. And horse chestnut leaf art activities add ambiance to home or classroom decor from spring to autumn.


Do you have a favorite horse chestnut leaf art activity or a preferred leaf for art? I’d love to hear about it in the comment section below.


You may also like:

Activities With Sunflowers

Art, nature and sensory activities with a variety of sunflowers and their parts.

Corn Theme Activities

Corn theme activities perfect for autumn. Sensory and art setups inspired by a corn maze.

Reptile Theme Activities

Reptile-themed art. science, small world, and pretend play activities for early learners. Topics include snakes, turtles, and lizards.

Don’t forget to share this post on Pinterest or your favorite social media channel. Sharing is caring!

A horse chestnut leaf featured in five easy to do art projects that are suitable for all ages.

© Annette Kaminsky

Follow me on social media for more ideas:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Pinterest
  • TikTok

Filed Under: art, autumn, preschool, spring Tagged With: horse chestnut trees, leaves, nature art, tree art

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Hi, I'm Annette Kaminsky. Thanks for visiting my blog. I hope you find inspiration and leave some for me! Feel free to stay awhile!

Instagram

puttingtheprettyin.preschool

Penguin sensory tray with a snowflake confetti bas Penguin sensory tray with a snowflake confetti base. See the confetti base used for three different winter sensory trays in my latest blogpost. Link in profile.

The confetti base is inspired by @places_spaces_wonder_delight . Check out that beautiful account!

❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️

#sensorytray #trayfortheday #playtray #confetti #snowflakes #penguins #polaranimals #animalplay #Antarctica #Canadianteacher #Canadianblogger #kindergarten #preschool #homeschool #Reggioinspired #winteractivities #prek #sensoryplay #sensoryplayideas
How I spent my afternoon.

🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈

#chickpeas #coloryourworld #rainbowcolors #teacherlife #funafternoon #thursdayvibes #teachersfollowteachers #canadianteacher #teacherblogger #teacherbloggers #puttingtheprettyinpreschool #sensoryplay #sensoryplayideas #kindergarten #preschool #homeschool
Glitzy, easy to make New Year’s craft. Link in p Glitzy, easy to make New Year’s craft. Link in profile leads to art and math New Year’s activities and resources for home or the classroom. 

🎷🎻🥁🎸🎹

#preschool #homeschool #kindergarten #iteachprek #iteach #teacherofig #NewYearsTheme #NewYearsDay #NewYearsCountdown #earlylearning #artylearning #kidscrafts101 #artandmath #puttingtheprettyinpreschool #2021
Season’s greetings to all. 

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

#SeasonsGreetings #heartdecoration #handprintart #handprint #red #heartart #recyclecraft #recyclecraftsforkids #paperbagcrafts #puttingtheprettyinpreschool #Christmaskeepsake
Christmas tree decorating center with miniature Ch Christmas tree decorating center with miniature Christmas trees.  Keep a lookout for after Christmas sales to purchase little trees for next year. 

🎄❄️🎄❄️🎄❄️🎄❄️🎄❄️🎄❄️🎄❄️🎄❄️🎄❄️

#miniaturetrees #treedecorating #decorations #ohChristmastree #playcenter #earlylearning #prekteacher #funcenter #artyplay #kindergarten #homeschooling #totsschool #kidfriendly
These handprint Christmas crafts are all done usin These handprint Christmas crafts are all done using paper bags as a base. Click the link in my profile for a blogpost featuring the crafts.

🎄❤️🎄❤️🎄❤️🎄❤️🎄❤️🎄❤️🎄❤️🎄❤️🎄❤️

#recycleandplay #handprintcrafts #Christmascrafts #reindeercraft #Christmastreecraft #handprints #handprintart #teachersfollowteachers #kindergarten #prek #earlylearning #artschool #artathome #puttingtheprettyinpreschool #Christmasdecorations #paperbagart
Sending a little angel your way today. #angels # Sending a little angel your way today. 

#angels #angelcraft #Christmascraft #kidscraft #tistheseason #crafting #craftingideas #prek #kindergarten #homeschooling #reggio #montessori #waldorf #teacher #teachersfollowteachers
Squish painted Christmas dove. Click the link in Squish painted Christmas dove.  Click the link in profile for a blogpost on dove Christmas art, and to snag a free dove printable. 

#Christmasart #squishpainting #Christmaspainting #painting #freeprintable #doveprintable #doveart #preschoolart #preschoolartactivity #earlylearning #playtolearn #prek #prekteacher #kindergarten #artidea #artideas #artsy #homeschooling #puttingtheprettyinpreschool
Butterfly Christmas decorations. #Christmasdecora Butterfly Christmas decorations.  #Christmasdecorating #Christmasdecorations #butterflydecorations #iteachprek #prekteacher #teacherofig #teachersfollowteachers #preschool #kindergarten #homeschooling
Happy Thanksgiving weekend to all those celebratin Happy Thanksgiving weekend to all those celebrating. This post is inspired by the Frozen II based storybook “We’ll Always Have Each Other.” The line “life may get harder sometimes but we’ll always have each other” seems even more fitting today than when it was written in 2019.

🍁🍂🌻🦃🌽🍁🍂🌻🦃🌽🍁🍂🌻🦃🌽🍁🍂🌻🦃🌽

#Frozen2 #trayfortheday #playtray #sensorybin #fallsensorybin  #sensoryplay #falltray #ThanksgivingDay #prek #prekfun #Frozen2inspired #fallcolors #pumpkins #leaves #apples #playallday #playtolearn #homeschoolingideas #preschool
“Spot The Turkeys” sensory tubes.

🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃

#sensorytubes #sensoryplay #turkeys #gobble #gobblegobble #playtolearn #Imnotreadyforwinter #fall2020 #handsonlearning #handson #prek #prekteacher #playidea #playideasforkids
This pumpkin playdough recipe smells so nice. The This pumpkin playdough recipe smells so nice. The recipe and a few activities are now on the blog. 🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿

#pumpkinplaydough #pumpkins #squirrels #sensoryactivities #earlylearning #playdough #puttingtheprettyinpreschool #Fallplay #aromatic #instateacher #iteach #iteachprek
Load More… Follow on Instagram

Subscribe Via Email

Recent Posts

  • Chinese New Year Sensory Play January 14, 2021
  • Winter Sensory Trays January 10, 2021
  • Color Explosion Science Experiment January 1, 2021
  • New Year’s Countdown Activities December 30, 2020
  • New Year’s Crafts December 29, 2020
  • Christmas Tree Decorating Center December 23, 2020
  • Christmas Tree Art December 21, 2020
  • Scissor Skill Gingerbread Man Craft December 19, 2020
  • Handprint Christmas Crafts December 18, 2020
  • Handprint Angel Craft December 16, 2020

Categories

Topics

angels apples Arctic block play bunnies Christmas Christmas craft Christmas tree color construction eggs experiment family fine motor activity flowers Frozen inspired gifts Happy New Year holiday keepsake keepsakes leaves loose parts multicultural painting paper crafts playdough printables pumpkins recycled craft rice bin scissor skills sensory bin sensory play skeletons skulls snakes spiders sunflowers tastesafe Thanksgiving Day trees turtles valentines water play

Copyright © 2021 · Lifestyle Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in