Any time we get to use paint and leaves in the same craft it is so much fun and this leaf spray painting project was a fun process art activity to welcome fall!
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This craft was so simple and we had all the materials on hand which made it easy to throw together for a last minute afternoon project. It was fun to see my kids pick out the perfect leaves to use in this craft, and I loved watching their anticipation to pick the leaves up off the paper to see their finished outlines!
This process art activity is very versatile and you can swap out leaves for other nature items like sticks, pine needles or acorns!
It is a great project for preschoolers and pairs really well with our nature scavenger hunt activity. You could even make nature paint brushes for an afternoon full of nature crafts.
Materials Needed
- Leaves (if you don’t have access to real leaves you can use faux leaves)
- White cardstock paper or watercolor paper
- Small spray bottles
- Liquid watercolor paints or food coloring
- Water
- Masking tape or painter’s tape
How To Make Watercolor Leaf Art
Gather your leaves, it’s fun to find different shapes and sizes
Arrange your leaves onto your paper and if you want you can tape them down using masking tape or painter’s tape (we decided not to tape them, but you will get crisper leaf outlines if you use tape)
In your small spray bottles mix liquid watercolors with a little water, the less water you use the brighter your colors will be
Spray the paper with a variety of colors, this is a great time to talk about color mixing
Carefully remove the leaves to reveal your leaf art
Let it dry & hang for sweet nature artwork
Why We Love This Craft
- It gets kids outdoors to explore nature
- Adaptable for all ages
- It’s incredibly budget friendly
Teaching Opportunities Within This Craft
- Identify and compare leaf shapes, veins and edges
- Talk about why leaves change color in the fall season (this leaf chromatography experiment is an awesome science experiment to build upon this!)
- Explore color mixing by using different colors on your paper
- Discuss process art and how the joy is in creating, not just the end product
- Work on fine motor skills with taping and squeezing the small spray bottles
- Add some math concepts and have your kids count the leaves on the paper or create repeating patterns with their leaves
If you do this nature craft with your kids we would love for you to share the final product with us in our comments or on Instagram @foxfarmhome!
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