two fun and easy fall art projects

PROJECT ONE
Finger painted fall trees

The first project involves paint and little fingers and hands so it pays to be very well prepared. I have wet paper towels, paints, paper and paintbrushes all ready to go before I even sit the kids down at the table. Kids who are over 3 can do most of this themselves but I help the little ones by painting their arms myself. Also I will let the older kids do this together but can only handle one toddler at a time with this project. You will need a white piece of construction paper, red, yellow, orange and brown paint, paintbrushes, small tray or paper plate and lots of wet paper towels or a wet washcloth. So here we go!

Paint or have the child paint her forearm and hand brown and then make a print by putting it down onto their paper and patting it down. It helps to say "pat! pat! pat!" when you do this...honest. Wipe the arm and hand down before moving on to the next step.
Then on a small tray or paper plate squeeze some red, orange and yellow paint and let the kids go to town. One of the kids used a paintbrush to brush paint on her hand but they can also just put their hands in the paint and make prints all over the brown hand print already on the paper. This gets very messy. I will often just take the shirts off the kids. I find it easier to wipe them down than smocks. But to each his own, smocks work just as well.

When the child is done painting wipe hands down and body and table and chair and any other surface within reach. And voila! a beautiful fall tree to enjoy year round made with your little one's own two hands.
PROJECT TWO
Tissue paper collage

This project is so simple and actually really very pretty. I promise. You will need clear contact paper and yellow, red and orange tissue paper. And that is it. Simple, I tell you. Again, advance prep makes all the difference between an enjoyable craft time and the most stressful 30 minutes ever known to mankind. I cut squares of contact paper; enough so each child will have two pieces. You will also need to either cut the tissue paper into small pieces or tear the tissue paper into small pieces. The kids LOVE tearing the paper for you so put them to work. First peel the backing from one piece of contact paper and lay it on the table in front of each child.

Then put small piles of tissue paper beside everyone and be prepared for at least 20 minutes of quiet. Seriously...this project never fails to suck them right in. I did have to model for the little ones (1 1/2 years) but after watching me do it once or twice they got the idea lickity split.

When all the tissue paper is gone...because they won't stop until it is...peel the backing off the second piece of contact paper and layer it on top of the tissued papered piece. I promised easy and I deliver and see how pretty these look when hanging in the window!