Crazy Crafts for Kids: Painting with Leaves
My boy loves to makes crafts. At daycare, they make anywhere from four to six projects per day and we have piles and piles of papers in our house to prove it. From time to time, I will throw a few out, but I don’t dare let him see me throw away his masterpiece!
He and I spend a lot of time at home on the weekends when Hubby is working and we get bored. I have never been a “crafty” person because I don’t like to make it “wrong” so I would rather not try, but there is something about a bored boy who loves to create and loves to spend quality time with Mommy that throws all of that OCD-ness out the window.
Having said all of this, my boy has about as much patience (attention span) with one particular craft activity as I do, so our crafting sessions usually last no longer than thirty minutes and then we are moving to the next great adventure. I doubt that any of our crafts will ever “go viral” on Pinterest, but a creative friend of mine reminded me that the time together means so much more!
Nevertheless we are going to share them with you all in our new series – Crazy Crafts for Kids – which may be weekly or monthly or just plain randomly, who knows, it’s crazy around this house!
Crazy Crafts for Kids: Painting with Leaves
Step 1: Gather leaves of different shapes and sizes
During Fall, we have a lot of different sizes and shapes of leaves in our yard. My boy learned a lot about Fall this year so every day was a new adventure in finding the different leaves. We gathered up a good sample of the different shapes to start our project. We even gathered some “berries” to add to the fun. If you don’t have leaves around, try using free printable templates or make leaves from construction paper, or simply find items with different shapes around the house.
Step 2: Create a color palette with finger paints
My boy does not like to get dirty so I have finger paints in the house, but I have to beg him to finger paint with me. Use a paper plate to lay out the paint colors to make them easier for the leaves to “dip” in the colors. Don’t worry about the colors mixing because you can then teach your child about what colors mix to make other colors. Plus, your child will double dip anyway so just go with the flow!
Step 3: Paint the leaves with different colors
Encourage your child to paint the leaves with different colors or simply dip the leaves in the paints. This is not about making a perfect piece of art so just go with it. He will do what he thinks looks great and he will be proud of his creation.
Step 4: Turn the leaf over and press down on paper
After you have the leaf the colors that you want, just flip it over and press it down on the paper. After you pick it up, there will be a beautiful design that your child created. Some of the colors will mix, but each creation is unique!
Step 5: Create, create, create
My boy made several different types of pictures and even used some of the leaves as paint brushes. He was so proud of his creations and we even decided to give a few away as gifts to family members.
Bonus: Let the leaves dry for another day
This one was a happy accident of sorts, but when I laid the leaves out to dry, they actually made for a separate art project for another day. I’m not sure what we are going to do with them, but we have some beautiful, colorful leaves now.
What are your favorite crafts for kids?!!
*Nothing to disclose here, just the boy and me having fun together. Enjoy!
Love painting with out of the ordinary things, what a great idea! His piece of art almost looks like something you’d see in a museum, truly! I love that next to the last photo of the finished project; so colorful! You’re right, it’s definitely the time spent that counts. What a great series, can’t wait to see more! Thanks so much for linking up to Inspire Me Wednesday!
Aww..thanks, Mel, for stopping by to see my crazy crafts. I’m trying to post every Friday and then I’ll be ready to link up with you on Wednesday now!
I love nature painting. We have painted with acorns. So much fun! Thanks for linking up at the party! You rock!
Acorns, how fun! We have tons of them in our yard, too!
Crafts are not my strong point either, but that’s ok because boys love to make messes! Ha! I think the leaf paintings are awesome!!
They turned out beautiful!
aww…thanks lady!