leaves

Eye Dropper Leaf Art

November 7, 2021 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

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Young children love variety in painting tools, so they will welcome this eye dropper leaf art activity. Using liquid watercolors ensures that the art will be bright and cheerful. And who wouldn’t want to squeeze in just a little more splashy color before the winter season sets in!

The large leaves for this project are inspired by the many leaf paintings by American artist Georgia O’Keefe. Georgia loved the colors and shapes in fall leaves and painted them to completely fill her canvasses.

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Supplies To Collect

For this easy-to-do art activity, collect the following:

liquid watercolors
paper towel roll
eye droppers or pipettes
paint containers
leaf templates

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Creating The Eye Dropper Leaf Art

Steps to creating beautiful eye dropper leaf art on paper towel designs.

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Draw or trace large leaves onto a paper towel roll. You may need two attached sections for each leaf if you go big, as Georgia O’Keefe did. I used oversized wall art leaves as templates and cut out a few different types.

Mix liquid watercolors of choice with a little water, and pour into paint trays. Featured are magenta, orange, and green hues.

Invite children to use eye droppers or pipettes to drip paint on their paper towel leaves.

A paper towel pattern accents the design in this eye dropper-painted maple leaf.

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When filled with color, dry the leaves on a flat surface.

Tip: Maple leaf designs work especially well for this activity. Little learners enjoy accenting their many curves and pointy edges.

Eye-catching leaf painting activity using an eye dropper technique.

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The colorful leaves can be displayed as-is, or mounted on cardstock.

Note: Because paper towel is so absorbent and the colors spread quickly, large shapes are perfect for this craft. And a paper towel canvas adds a unique texture to the art.

Eye dropper painting technique on paper towel leaves.

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Variations Of This Eye Dropper Leaf Art Project

Invite your little charges to drop paint onto leaves cut from sturdy art paper. I used 11-inch x 14-inch, 98 lb, mixed media paper for the leaves.

Steps to create eye dropper and blow dryer painted leaves.

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The paint will pool and start to blend slowly. As the art dries, invite little learners to check back periodically to observe the color changes.

In the completed project, I used a blow dryer set on low to hurry the drying process. It was fun and created a uniquely blended earthy-hued color combination.

A blow dryer painting technique yields beautiful results on a maple leaf cut out.

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Tip: For young children, I recommend inviting them to blow the paint around with straws instead of a blow dryer.

Copy paper also works for this drippy art activity. Below, the maple leaf is cut from 11-inch x 17-inch paper and decorated in two colors. This version dries the quickest.

Eye dropper painting on a maple leaf with magenta and orange liquid watercolors.

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Little learners can get overwhelmed with having to decorate a large canvas. But with this activity, bigger is better!

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Maple Leaf Activities

November 1, 2020 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

Maple leaf paint print activities. Art, math, and display ideas for maple leaves.

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Maple trees flourish in eastern Canada and turn vibrant colors in autumn. But I happily settled for these deep green maple leaves from a tree that can survive our harsh Alberta winters. When painted, they produce striking leaf prints. The prints look stunning displayed but can also be used for other maple leaf activities.

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Maple Leaf Activities

Leaf Prints

Early learners can join in making maple leaf prints. Set out orange, yellow, and red tempera paints, paintbrushes, and large pieces of sturdy paper. Invite your little learners to paint the leaves, turn them over, and press them onto the paper. Encourage them to gently rub all over each leaf before removing them.

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Glitter can be sprinkled on the leaf prints to add a dose of glam before they dry.

Glitter added to tempera paint maple leaf prints.

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Painting the back of a leaf, and pressing it on paper clearly reveals the midrib and veins.

Maple leaf paint print with red tempera paint.

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Unexpected colors of paint, such as black or blue can be offered.

Maple leaf paint prints with blue tempera paint.

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Maple leaf paint print with black tempera paint.

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After the leaf prints dry, cut some out for other activities.

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Maple Leaf Person

Have your little learners bring a leaf to life by adding wiggly eyes and a permanent felt pen smile.

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Canadian Flag Art

The maple leaf is part of our Canadian flag, so it’s extra special to me.

Your early learners can help make a leaf print Canadian flag. Select a big red leaf to glue onto the center of a large, rectangular piece of paper. Have children take turns adding smaller, red leaves on each side to complete the flag.

Canadian flag art made with maple leaf paint prints.

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Maple Leaf Math

Select different sized crafted leaves for your early learners to order from smallest to largest.

Leaf size ordering with different sized maple leaf paint prints.

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Use some leaves for counting fingerplays.

Counting leaves with maple leaf paint prints.

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Leaf Art Displays

Mount cut leaves onto a white piece of paper with double-sided tape. Add a paper background in a contrasting color. Display the art on a shelf or wall.

Displayed maple leaf paint print art. Cut prints are attached to a paper background with double-sided tape.

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Hang trimmed maple leaves from a twig tree, or a decorative branch hung on a wall.

Leaf display on a twig made with maple leaf paint prints.

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Do you have a favorite tree to introduce early learning activities with? Share in the comments section below.

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Horse Chestnut Leaf Art Activities

October 12, 2020 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

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

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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.

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Horse chestnut tree flowers in spring. — Flowers in spring.

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

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

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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.

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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.

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

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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.

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Horse chestnut leaves are perfect for dot marker art.

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Removing the leaf reveals a white silhouette.

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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.

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Horse chestnut leaf watercolor resist art project.

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

Watercolor resist leaf art video tutorial.

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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.

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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.

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Horse chestnut leaf aluminum foil rubbing.

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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.

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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.

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Turkey Sensory Tubes

October 3, 2020 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

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Here are three quick and inviting turkey sensory tubes to put together for a Thanksgiving, fall, or farm theme. I used large water bottles with wide mouths purchased at a dollar store for these activities. Offer the tubes to little learners and have them “spot the turkeys.”

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Three "Spot The Turkey" sensory tubes. Split pea and lentil base, glitter water base, and craft material base sensory tube ideas.

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Split Pea And Lentil Based Sensory Tube

Split pea and lentil-based turkey sensory tube with turkey counters, and leaf, pumpkin, and apple gems.

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This calming turkey sensory tube features a red split lentil and yellow split pea base. Also included are:

red, orange, and yellow rubber turkey counters
pumpkin and apple gems
fall round and leaf gems

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Glitter Water Sensory Tube

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Water sprinkled with a little orange glitter is the base for this glitzy sensory tube. Red, orange, and yellow turkey counters and apple, pumpkin, leaf, and round gems complete the tube.

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Craft Supply And Gem Sensory Tube

Cardstock paper in an array of fall hues is the color guide for this cheery turkey sensory tube.

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The color guide for a Frozen 2 inspired sensory bin.

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Added to the tube are:

purple turkey counters
red, orange, and purple feathers and pompoms
gold, red, and orange foil leaves
pumpkin, apple, leaf, and round gems
green apple counters

Glitter water sensory tube with turkey counters, and leaf, pumpkin, diamond, and apple gems.

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The turkeys can be exchanged for Frozen II figurines to go along with the heartwarming storybook “We’ll Always Have Each Other” by John Edwards. Read about a Frozen II inspired sensory bin here:

Frozen II Inspired Sensory Bin

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Fall-colored loose parts are featured in these three turkey sensory tubes. But the color theme can be changed to fit any season the tubes are offered in.

Turkey math counters and fall-themed loose parts. — **Turkey Counters And Fall-Themed Loose Parts**

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Dinosaur And Sweet Potato Vine Activities

July 26, 2019 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

Preschool dinosaur and sweet potato vine sensory, art and nature activities.

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One Spring I was greenhouse shopping, and a ledge of sweet potato vines caught my attention. The sales clerk suggested that the leaves looked like dinosaur footprints.

That thought stuck with me, and soon after I picked two uniquely colored sweet potato vines to add contrast to the flowering plants on my deck. I was also eager to use some leaves in dinosaur-themed nature play.

When the sweet potato vines had grown and poured over their pots, I snipped a few leaves off the plants to feature the activities below.

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Dinosaur Themed Small World

Sweet potato vine leaves in a dinosaur-themed sensory tub. Rocks, twigs, plastic and marble eggs, and blue water complete the scene.

Small world scene with dinosaurs, rocks, twig, plastic eggs, marbles, blue water, and sweet potato vine leaves.

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Painted Leaf T-Rex Footprints

An invitation to make leaf prints shaped like dinosaur footprints with silver and bronze paints and sweet potato vine leaves.

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One side of cut leaves are painted with tempera paints. Next the leaves are carefully pressed on paper to make T-Rex dinosaur footprints. Bronze and silver paints make the art project extra special!

Printmaking project. Sweet potato vine leaves are painted with bronze and gold metallic paints. The leaves are pressed on paper to look like dinosaur footprints.

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Sorting T-Rex Footprint Shaped Leaves

An invitation to sort different sizes and colors of “dinosaur footprint” shaped leaves into “alike and different”. Large passionflower leaves add variety to this activity.

An iInvitation to sort sweet potato vine and passionflower leaves. A Math activity using nature materials.

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Activities with leaves are a welcome opportunity to include nature in art and play centers. Do you have a favorite activity to do with leaves or leafy plant you treasure? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below.

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