Autumnal Fingerprint Trees

Grade 1 students learned how to draw a 'realistic' Autumn tree with falling leaves. 

This is a classic Art Teacher project and most kids can find success with this!

Students practised drawing a bare tree first in their sketchbook. I demonstrated on the board. I have students describe a bare tree and what they see. We talk about the difference between the thick, strong branches and the thinner twigs. We start with the trunk, then add some thick branches and then the thinner twigs last.

For the good copy, students worked on regular construction paper. They drew their grass line and tree first. Then, using oil pastels (you could also use wax crayons), students colored the grass and tree. Once everything was good and colored, I passed out plastic lids with a squirt of yellow, orange and red tempera paint. Students needed to choose one finger only (to minimize mess- which there still was a lot of!) and then they dipped their finger in the paint and created all the leaves. The kids had alot of fun with this!