Fall Tree Painting Activity

The vibrant colors of fall always inspire me to create! Aren’t they just so lovely? This fall tree painting activity was inspired by the beauty of autumn leaves and is a must-try for early childhood classrooms!

Materials Needed:

For this activity, you’ll need the following materials:

brown construction paper
scissors
white card stock paper
glue stick or liquid glue
green paint
orange paint
red paint
yellow paint
large paper plate
round sponge brushes (various sizes)
paint smocks

Before the Activity

Before doing the activity, I recommend covering the table with newspaper or tablecloth to protect it from spills. Also make sure to put a paint smock on children to protect their clothing. Then pour a small amount of green, orange, red, and yellow paint onto a paper plate. Space out each color to prevent them from mixing.

Activity Directions

Start by making the trunk with brown construction paper. You can trace a tree trunk on the paper and then have students cut out the tree. Then glue the tree trunk onto card stock paper.

Next, dip one of the round sponge brushes into one of the paint colors. Dab off any excess paint on the edge of the paper plate.

Gently press the sponge brush onto the card stock paper around the top of the tree trunk to create leaf shapes. Repeat this step, using different colors and varying the pressure to create leaves of different sizes and shapes.

Continue dabbing the sponge brushes into the various paint colors and pressing them onto the paper until the tree is full of colorful fall leaves. Be creative and layer the colors to achieve a natural look.

I love how colorful this art project is!

Once the tree is filled with color, set the painting aside in a safe place to dry completely. This may take a few hours, depending on the thickness of the paint.

This would be so cute for art projects in the classroom or to decorate a bulletin board!

Modification Ideas

Here are some ideas for modifying this activity:

If you don’t have sponge brushes, you could use dot markers to make the leaves.
Another idea for modifying is using cotton balls attached to clothespins to make the leaves.
For a fine motor activity, tear up colored paper and have students glue the pieces to the tree to look like leaves.