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Watercolor Art Projects

Fall Leaf Art

The beauty of leaves and all of it’s potential has us really excited about our next fall leaf art project for kids! This creative craft is a gorgeous replica of an abstract fall leaf art project. For any age, you can have a beautiful combination of colors with just a few handful of leaves.

If you need some extra ideas for the autumn season, we’ve got you covered! Whether you have a preschooler or a teenager, these Fun Fall Leaf Craft ideas are perfect for displaying, gift giving, and showcasing your student’s creativity. With just a few materials and a few fresh leaves, you can wow any family member or friend.

FALL LEAF ART SUPPLIES

Here is a list of what to collect for your fall leaf art:

AUTUMN LEAF CRAFT INSTRUCTIONS

  1. With a fresh fall leaf face up, begin with a beautiful color of pink to start your fall leaf project as shown above.

2. As you work around counter clockwise in quarters, paint in yellow, orange and red.

3. Continue working around counter clockwise until complete as shown above.

4. As you finish, make sure your leaf is ready to be pulled off the page gently.

5. Isn’t this a gorgeous display of colors?!! As you admire your new creative masterpiece, touch up any spots that need attention.

6. As the leaf is lifted, find another area and press part of the leaf for an extra pattern of shapes.

7. Now it’s time to extend the colors! Finish all colors to the end of the painting canvas for extra flair and fabulous fun!

The blending of the neon watercolors has a beautiful effect as you pull the color to the edges of the paper. This is such a simple way to add some fall color and creativity to your homeschool classroom.

Need more fabulous fall leaf art ideas? Try any of these awesome autumn art projects:

Fall Leaf Art Projects for Kids

Fall Leaf Craft

When we think of fall, we typically think of leaves, right? We can’t get through this beautiful cool season without the kids creating a masterful project of leaves! Our next creative activity is our Fall Leaf Craft in a Collage style. It’s for everyone at any age, yet, little kids will absolutely adore this one as it includes beautiful array of colors and a variety of leaves.

Running out of ideas for fun crafts with preschoolers or any age? We are filled with Fun Fall Leaf Craft ideas for displaying, gift giving, and showcasing. This autumn leaf craft includes very few materials with just a few fresh leaves.

FALL LEAF PROJECT SUPPLIES

Here is a list of what to collect for this fall art proejct:

AUTUMN LEAF CRAFT INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Collect 4 or 5 different types of fresh, healthy leaves.

2. With your paintbrush, select the color red and paint the front part of the leaf as shown above. Don’t worry at all about the colors mixing, this will yield wonderful results with your leaf prints. I used the same brush for dipping into all the colors so that all these beautiful blends would come through.

3. Flip your leaf over carefully and press gently to “stamp” the leaf print. Leave it in position to dry.

4. Choose another leaf from a different tree perhaps, and continue the process as before. Look for other colors you can use to bring excitement to your leaf prints. I’m using purple with yellow and a little blue.

5. Continue adding remaining leaves using the same process, using 2 or 3 varieties of colors. The different leaf shapes and the variety of colors with help your final project pop with unique qualities. Remember, not all leaves change to orange and red. Some change to yellow, brown, and even sometimes dark purple.

6. Be sure you are visually planning out the use of your white space as well. You’ll need more room for the larger leaves, and you’ll want your leaves facing different directions. It will look too “uniform” to have then all standing straight up or pointing the same way, so try for some variety in your print-making as well.

7. When you’ve filled your paper with beautiful fall leaves, you’ll want to pull them off BEFORE they dry. Personally, I like the texture pattern of lines that are made by pulling the leaves off while the paint is still wet. Additionally, you might find that your leaf dries into the paint and ends up stuck, so be sure to pull them off before that happens!

Once removed you’ll see the leaf outlines the veings and sometimes any unique cracks or tears in your leaf. The end result is a stunning, one-of-a-kind fall leaf artwork your kiddos will be proud to hang on the classroom walls!

Find More Free Fall Art Projects for Kids Here

For more Fall Art Craft Ideas with Leaves, try our Fall Art Project, Four Seasons Leaf Craft and Fall Leaf Spraying Art Craft.

Fall Art Project

Looking for a fun and easy Fall art project that’s colorful and creative? Or, wondering how to make a leaf project? I have great news! We have an awesome collection of amazing leaf art projects for kids of any age from preschool to teens! You’ll be amazed at how low prep and affordable autumn crafts can be with our unique ideas.

Fall Leaf Art Supplies

Wondering what you can make with fall leaves? This autumn art activity includes very simple materials with a lucky large leaf to paint to use as a stamp and a paint palette with a nice variety of colors.

  • Large Leaf (oak, maple)
  • Small Leaf
  • Variety of Paints (Try These Neon Paints)
  • Large Paint Brush
  • Black Marker
  • White Cardstock Paper
  • Paper cup filled with water
  • Paper towel

Autumn Art Project Instructions

  1. Lay a large leaf flat on top of white cardstock paper.

2. Dip paint brush into purple paint and paint bottom area near stem as show below.

3. Dip paint brush in water, wipe clean with paper towel, and begin painting with a blue splash.

4. Dip paint brush in water, wipe clean with paper towel, and begin painting with a red splash on the left as shown below.

5. Time for the orange color. Dip paint brush in water, wipe clean with paper towel, and begin painting with an orange color.

6. Gently flip and flatten leaf over to use as a stamp.

7. Using another white cardstock sheet, push gently on leaf to ensure paint is transferred onto paper.

8. Slowly pull leaf off paper and admire the amazing transformation of colors.

9. Wait for leaf imprint to dry.

10. Draw a stem using a black sharpie or marker as shown below.

11. Try another smaller leaf and repeat process.

12. Fall Art Project is Complete.

More Fall Art Projects for Kids

Jellyfish Art Project for Kids

Create this Simple Watercolor & Glue Jellyfish with your art students today! With our free step-by-step art tutorial, this stunning jellyfish can be created by students and adults of all ages and abilities. You’ll be amazed at how simple and easy this jellyfish watercolor art project is, and at how beautiful it looks hanging in your classroom! Imagine a full art wall of these gorgeous jellies!

Simple Watercolor Jellyfish

Jellyfish might seem like they are difficult to create, but because of their fluid shape, they are actually quite simple…..and fun! Best of all we’ve added in an amazingly, simple watercolor and glue technique that will bring textures and quality to your project!

Watercolor & Clear Glue Art Project

It’s hard to photograph the actual texture of this projects, so here is a closer look at the canvas. Prior to paining, a layer of clear glue is used to create a 3-D underlay, so that when paint is applied it creates a stunning and unique result every single time! In the photo above you can see these layers or dried glue as the raised elements on the canvas.

Jellyfish Craft for Kids

Glue is also used on the tentacles of the jellyfish to add some variety of textures and colors. You can see in the above photo that the watercolor absorbs differently into the glue and you can see almost transparent-like strings coming down. This is a wonderful technique for making jellies!

Watercolor Jellyfish

Jellyfish Template & Materials

If you’d like to provide your students with a template, you can use our free printable stencil for the main shape of the jellyfish’s body. It’s probably great for reference too if student’s want to look at it while drawing their own.

Either way, make sure to trace or draw the jellyfish body near the top of the page. That way there is lots of remaining room on you paper for all the colorful tentacles. However, before we get started painting, we need to lay down that texture layer of glue.

It turns out getting a picture of clear glue on white paper is really difficult, so I darkened this image a bit so you can see where I laid out the glue. Basically, you’ll want to go around the edges and then do some dots of glue in some of the corners. You can see on the edges I don’t have a perfect line, and sometimes it’s blotchy, or with gaps….this is ideal for a unique texture. You want areas of white in between the glue that will soak up the color different and help the whole thing POP!

Here is another close up of the tentacles. Basically you are doing lots of squiggly figure 8’s and randomness all the way down the tentacle. Before making each one, look at your page and decide which way they will go, and sort of where they will end up. Make them in varying sizes and shapes, but really fill up your page. The glue will take a while to dry, so set it aside for a few hours to harden.

Ocean Watercolor Art for Kids

After your glue has dried, you are ready to PAINT your watercolor jellyfish. So, you can use watercolor brush pens, or watercolor cakes to complete your project. I prefer the pens because they are less messy, and I find it easy to add lots of bold bright color without getting too much water on the paper. I tend to over-water my plants too, it’s a whole thing, but moving on….

Step 1:

The first step is to lay down some color in the body of your jellyfish. I like to use light blues and you can see in the photo where I’m adding them.

Step 2:

Next, add some yellow to the jellyfish body. Ad water as needed to blend the colors together. With watercolor pens, you’ll find dipping them directly in water helps sometimes as well.

Step 3:

Choose a few darker blues and purbles to go around the edges and add random bits of color through the project. Generally you want the darker colors near the edges and the lighter colors hear the middle. You’ll start to notice some of the glue soaking up color differently than the exposed paper. I noticed that sometimes the glue areas resisted the color and sometimes they turned darker.

Here is a look at the project so far. It’s looking good, and the glue is creating textures, so it’s time to work on those colorful tentacles!

Step 4:

Choose a nice bright WARM color for the tentacles. We used a lot of cool colors on the jelly body (blues, greens, purples) so we want to contrast that by using warm colors for the tentacles. Using the brushpen, or a very thin watercolor brush, make a bunch of figure 8 squiggles following the dried glue outline of the first tentacle. To get randomness, you might draw with the tip, then quickly press more of the brush down on the paper, then back up to the tip as you go….etc… You’ll want lots of loops!

Step 5:

Add a second color to the same tentacle, filling in some of the gaps and making the colors blend and overlaps in some areas. I choose a yellow color. Use the water brush, to make circles and blend some of the color together. You want a lot of the hard, fine lines to show through, so keep that in mind as you are blending.

Step 6:

Repeat these steps for your next set of tentacles. This time I used an orange and a darker red. You can see that the pen shape is moving in circles and random all the way down. Soemtimes it gets thicker or thinner in areas too, that is PERFECT! You don’t want it the same thickness, as jellyfish tentacles are not uniform in appearance.

Step 7:

Again, take the water brush and blend the colors. The water will pull the color out a bit, thickening up your tentacle and creating the effect of transparency. The strings of glue will start to show through, which looks amazing!!

Don’t worry if you feel like you made a mistake. Jellyfish are so unique that any special qualities your picture has will only enhance your work. You can use a paper towel to pick up any extra water along the way. Did I mention I always lay down too much water?

Step 8

When you come to the other side of the jellyfish, you can even him out by adding some smaller tentacles, or tentacles the appear to drift of in another direction. I decided to add another color pop of yellow to tie the whole thing together. Next, go back through your tentacles and make thsure theya re all fat and fluffy (use the water brush).

Once you get everything painted, take a step back and look for areas of improvement. I decided to add more color using a dark purple watercolor brush pen. First, I put more color to the edges of the jelly body, near the dots, and to add some shadow to the tentacles. Look at the center orange tentacle for example, you’ll see the darker areas on the edges.

Ready for some more Ocean art projects for kids? Try this stunning Seahorse Craft Today! Students will work with bleeding tissue paper and paper cutting techniques to create these luminous creatures!

Salt Painting for Summer Art Projects

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KoiArtProject10

Recently I was introduced to a new form of textured painting called salt painting.  Basically, you take glue cover it with salt, then drop watercolors on top to absorb the color.  Well, can I just say, “Wowza!”  This is such a fun technique and it creates beautiful art work that children can really be proud of.

A quick pinterest search for Salt Painting is sure to inspire you to try this out, but today I wanted to share our own Salt Painting Project: Koi Fish Watercolor

I created a Step-by-Step photo tutorial you can follow to make this project with your own children.

Of course they will want to make their own creations as well, so after you show them this technique, give them the supplies and let them spend their Summer day creating!

Tip: Use Foam Core Board or Poster Board for this project.  The weight of the glue and salt overwhelms carstock, and you’ll need something a little sturdier.  (Construction paper glued to cardboard would work well too.)

Here is an example of another project my daughter made with this technique:

SaltPainting

 

SaltPaintingTutorialIsn’t that beautiful!  This would be a fun way for a Tween or Teen to add some custom art to their bedroom!

Check out the full tutorial here: Salt Painting fo Kids

Find more Japanese Art Projects for Kids Here

Find more Ocean Art Projects for Kids Here

 

Fall Leaf Art Projects for Kids

Fall is a great time to start new art projects with your children.  With all the colorful leaves and foliage there is plenty of inspiration to be found. These Fall leaf art projects are designed to teach children new ways they can color, shade and create texture with different art mediums.  Templates are provided as an option for younger children, those who become frustrated with drawing or struggle with perfectionism, that way children can focus on learning with the medium and technique instead.

Watercolor Fall Leaf Art Project

This geometric fall leaf watercolor project is sure to be a hit in your classroom! can be done alongside an art lesson on hues, and radial art, or even adapted for cubism.

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Fall Art Project for Kids

This fun fall art project for kids is simple enough for students of all ages! All you need to do is collect some fall leaves and break out the paint!

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Zentangle Fall Leaf Art Project for Kids

This Fall leaf art project for children combines zentangle with oil pastels and watercolor for a stunning look. Great for children in late elementary or Middle School.

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Fall Leaf Watercolor Spray Art Project for Kids

This fun fall art project for kids will have your little ones begging to make more! Each leaf is silhouetted with a variety of watercolor sprays!

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Texture & Patterned Fall Leaf Art

This is a Fall Leaf Art project for children of all ages. Using simple techniques, children can design a leaf with multiple colors and textures for a vibrant outcome.

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Fall Leaf Art Project For Kids

Students of all ages love this Fall Leaf Art Project. Using Chalk Pastels, this project is great for a First Day of Fall Art Project.

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Abstract Fall Leaf Watercolor Art

Here is another stunning fall leaf art project for kids! Using neon watercolor paints your kiddos can create this stunning abstract painting in no time!

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Painting Fall Leaves Art Collage

Here is a SIMPLE yet exciting way to capture some of those beautiful fall colors in your classroom. Students collect their own autumn leaves, paint and print them to make a unique fall collage.

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Parts of a Leaf Worksheets

Free parts of a leaf science notebook printables. A great set including a chart, labeling worksheet, cut and paste activity, notebooking and coloring page.

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Printable Fall Leaf Art Cards

This set includes five different leaves each with different shapes, colors and textures for your little artists to explore. These are super simple to print out and lay on the table for some quick art projects this Fall!

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Fall Leaf Printables

A great set of free fall leaf preschool printables, games, worksheets, activities and resources.

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Barn Owl Watercolor

BarnOwlPinThis is a great project for kids to explore watercolors, focusing on hue as well as saturation. Children can discus the emotive qualities of the book “The Barn Owl”

Materials:

Suggest Resources for a Unit Study:

owls3   owls1   owls2     owl4

Art Project Tutorial:

Barn Owl Template

Print this template and poetry for each child.

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Step 1

Cut your owl window out and set aside.

Step 2

Talk with children about mixing colors. We're going to make a dark blue and a golden rod yellow. Mix brown with blue, and orange and yellow.

Step 3

Use the dark blue paint to paint a cloudy sky at the top of your construction paper. (We're using large sheets of paper)

Step 4

Use the golden rod color to make wheat. across the bottom to make the wheat "dance" in the wind.

Step 5

Here is what your sheet will look like. Set it aside to dry.

Step 6

Start to paint on your Owl Window template. Using watercolors and a little bit of orange, paint the surrounding area of the barn owls face. face.

Step 7

Then use a bit of red to paint around the barn window.

Step 8

Use some watered down golden rod to paint the inside of the barn. Show children how to use water to change the saturation of the color.

Step 9

Here is how your owl looks now

Step 10

Optional: Use some Popsicle sticks to frame the barn window.

Step 11

You can even paint your sticks red to match the redwood theme

Step 12

Cut out your poem, or make your own and add it to your project. (The printable poem is above in the materials list)

All Done!

You can even use paint on some of the words in the poem!

Ocean Crafts for Kids

These ocean craft and art projects for kids are fantastic when paired alongside some hands-on learning. Children love to see all the amazing creatures that God has placed in the sea.  Be sure to enhance your Ocean unit studies with a fun trip to a local aquarium, or natural tide pool.

Our Ocean Crafts for kids are developed for students of all ages!. With our beach craft tutorials, children will work with a variety of mediums including oil pastels, chalk pastels, watercolor, bleeding tissue paper and more. We provide introduction to different art techniques as well. Children will learn blending, hues, warm and cool colors paper piecing, glue-resist, etching, printing, textures with mixed media and so much more! Come create a spiky sea urchin, a sandpaper starfish, a sea creature fan book and a sparkly sea anemone!

Seahorse Art Project for Kids

Try this stunning Seahorse Craft Today! Students will work with bleeding tissue paper and paper cutting techniques to create these luminous creatures! You’ll be surprise how simple and fun these seahorse art projects are for students of all ages. Even young students will create aquatic masterpieces with this simple tutorial.

Whale Tail Art Project for Kids

This aquatic ocean art project for children is sure to be a huge hit in your classroom! Pair this fantastic beach side theme with your ocean animals unit study. Best of all this project is simple, and great for students of all ages. Students will build a variety of art skills as they work with mixed media (chalk pastels and glue), and learn to use blending and color hues to create visual interest.

Jellyfish Art Project for Kids

Create this Simple Watercolor & Glue Jellyfish with your art students today! With our free step-by-step art tutorial, this stunning jellyfish can be created by students and adults of all ages and abilities. You’ll be amazed at how simple and easy this jellyfish watercolor art project is, and at how beautiful it looks hanging in your classroom! Imagine a full art wall of these gorgeous jellies!

Spiky Sea Urchin Craft

Careful, these little fella's are very spiky! These make your Ocean diorama's really pop!

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Ocean Waves Oil Pastel

This beautiful oil pastel introduces children to warm and cool color combinations, line, overlaping, depth, highlighting, shadows and more. With a few easy tips and tricks children can make stunning beach art during your Ocean unit study.

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Sandpaper Starfish Art Project

This is a great way for chidlren to learn about starfish, while adding a bit of texture to their creations. Children draw directly on sandpaper with crayons or oil pastels for a vivid and tactile experience.

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Sea Creature Art Prints

Using this simple printing method you can make an array of amazing sea creature art prints. This project is not only fun to learn but children are left with lasting impressions of their Ocean Animal Unit Study. Not to mention that these prints can be gifted to friends and family members for gifts.

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Seashell Identification Cards

Children can identify and sort through their seashells with these full color photo cards. We purchased a bag of shells and used these as sorting mats to keep the little hands busy during lessons.

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Sea Creature Fan Book

Children can make this interactive sea creature fan book to remember all of their favorite ocean animals!

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Aquarium Notebooking Pages

Free 75 page aquarium notebook for The Crafty Classroom Subscribers. These notebooking pages include a full color photo and basic fact file for different aquatic creatures children can visit at the aquarium.

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Coral Reef Collage

These vibrant coral reef collages are wonderful to make after learning about the different creatures that live there! Use Oil Pastels and a reference photo and encourage children to work slowly blending colors, highlighting with white as they go.

Coral Craft for Kids

This craft teaches children to make some sparkly sea creatures to add to their ocean dioramas! Use a piece of Styrofoam (we cut a Styrofoam ball in half) and some glitter pipe cleaners. Wrap the pipe cleaners around a pencil then remove them for a perfect spiral spring shape. Poke them into the Styrofoam to make your creature.

Ocean Animal ABC Photos

Children can work their way through the alphabet with these aquatic creatures. For each letter there is a corresponding animal. Older children can cut apart the photo from the name and use these cards as a matching game.

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Ocean Animal Coloring Pages

A set of 26 different ocean animal coloring pages, one for each letter of the alphabet. Children can color and cut out their pictures to form a wall sized quilt.

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Sea Shell Coloring & Clipart

We have some free seashell coloring pages and clipart you can use to make your own homeschool resources. Even if you live miles from the ocean you can provide children the opportunity to find a collect shells using a small sandbox and purchased shells. Children can then color the shells with the markings and patterns of the ones they found.

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OceanEncy

Children’s Encyclopedia of Ocean Life

This series of encyclopedias for children are amazing!  With over 200 pages, this book is filled with full color photos and vivid illustrations of aquatic creatures from the world’s oceans.  This is book you can keep on your shelves for years to come, we personally own quite a few of these thematic encyclopedias.  I would say they are best used with children 3rd grade and below.