Fall Pumpkins

This is a great project for teaching watercolor painting, color blending and how to use space in an artwork. We began by doing sketches of pumpkins. I made sure students used contour lines while drawing and focused on details like vines and leaves. Once students were comfortable sketching the pumpkins, they then transferred that drawing onto a large piece of paper. The students had to be very comfortable with the drawing because the large drawing had to be done with black glue. Once the glue was dry, students used oil pastels to create three-dimensional pumpkins. The final step was to paint the background and add a texture.

These paintings were very fun to do and extremely successful! I received many compliments and they made for a great autumn display.

Catching Fall Leaves

Students in grades PreK and Kinder created these wonderful watercolor paintings. We began by tracing our hands on different colored construction paper. Students chose a color that was close to their own skin tone. We then blended blue and violet paint to create a beautiful sky background. We then did several leaf rubbings and colored them in using warm colors for fall. Students got to do lots of experimenting with blending paints to create these paintings to welcome autumn!

Autumn Leaves and a Van Gogh Sky

This is a great lesson for teaching observational drawing, color contrast, watercolor techniques and art history. And the best part: almost all students succeeded  in creating a beautiful painting! 

I taught this lesson to first through third grades. We began by completing observational drawings of leaves. These were then outlined with a black glue(Elmer's glue mixed with black tempera paint). During the next class, we painted in the leaves with warm colors. I showed students how to blend the watercolor paints to create intermediate colors. For the final class, students learned about Starry Night and created lines in the background that demonstrated movement. We also discussed how cool colors are opposite warm colors on the color wheel and how placing them next to each other creates contrast. 

This is a great seasonal project that introduces so many important design principles in an easy and fun way!

Fall Leaves that POP!

Students in grades 4 through 6 created these autumn inspired paintings to learn about color contrast. We began by painting an abstract cool color background as the sky. Students used white crayons to create a sense of movement in the background. During the next class, students used styrofoam to print leaves. We drew detailed contour line drawings of leaves and carved them into styrofoam. We then colored the foam with warm color markers making sure to blend the colors together. The final class was used to create textured tree branches and add the leaves in a way that fills the space for an interesting composition.

Glue Line Pumpkins!

This is a great project for teaching wet-on-wet painting techniques, color blending, and how to use space in an artwork.

We began by doing sketches of pumpkins. I made sure students used contour lines while drawing and focused on details like vines and leaves. Once students were comfortable sketching the pumpkins, they then transferred that drawing onto a large piece of tagboard. The students had to be very comfortable with the drawing, because the large drawing had to be done with glue! I did not let the students use pencil because once the glue dries, it becomes clear and the pencil drawing would become visible. These were left to dry overnight. The next day, I had the students use an ultra fine sharpie and outline all of the glue lines. It can be very difficult, and sometimes you may need to tilt the paper to be able to see where the glue is. Finally we were ready to paint! I showed the students how to use a wet-on-wet technique to spread color quickly, as well as how to blend analogous colors. You have to be sure to NOT paint over the glue lines, the glue does not resist the paint and can be very hard to remove.

These painting were very fun to do and extremely successful! I received many compliments and they made for a great Autumn display!

The Best Autumn Projects for Children

Below you will find easy art and painting ideas for fall leaves and autumn trees, pumpkins and scarecrows using several types of art processes- painting, printmaking, watercolor resist, etc.

Here are some links to the best Autumn projects I have done at my school:

Britto Style Pumpkins

Pattern Pumpkins

Fall Pumpkins

Autumn Trees

Watercolor Leaves

Textured Autumn Leaves

Texture Scarecrows

Autumn Leaves

Autumn Pumpkins with Glue

Pattern Pumpkins

 Students in grades 4-6 created these detailed pattern pumpkins for a fun autumn project. We began by drawing three-dimensional pumpkins using direct observation. Students were encouraged to show a great amount of detail and texture in their drawings. For the painting, students learned all about VALUE. We learned that adding white to a color and making it lighter is called a tint and that adding black to make a color darker is called a shade. Students painted in the pumpkins and the backgrounds with many different values of orange. During the final class, students outlined with black paint and again used different values of orange to create their own patterns throughout the composition. This was a great project to teach value, pattern and emphasis and all the pumpkins look so fun and unique!

Warm and Cool Autumn Trees

Montessori students in grades 4-6 created these vibrantly styled Autumn trees! We began by making a simple grid and drawing a simple tree. Students learned about pattern and contrast by creating many different designs in each square within the tree. The leaves and background were then filled in using colored pencils and/or crayons. Students needed to identify the two color schemes(warm and cool) used in the artwork to create additional contrast. This project served as a great introduction to patterns and color schemes but also introduced the art style of Cubism, which we focused on more deeply in our current mixed media project.

Watercolor Leaves

Students in grades 1-3 created these fun and festive fall paintings. We began by doing a leaf rubbing and cutting it out to create a stencil. This was then retraced onto a large paper repeatedly. I made the students aware that they would be coloring the background in black or brown so the closer the leaves are to each other the better. Repetition in art and negative space are important principles to stress and learn here. Once this is completed, students painted the leaves with the three warm colors- red, yellow and orange. I showed the students how to blend the colors from light to dark and to blend them into each other. The darkly colored background acts as a good resist so the students can be a little more free and loose with their painting.  

Autumn Trees

Students in grades 4-6 created these autumn trees as an in depth study of color and value. We began by drawing out a grid in pencil and painting the shapes in a monochromatic color scheme. Students could choose one color and then create different tints and shades of that color to complete the painting. We then learned about atmospheric perspective- how in a landscape objects that are farther away become lighter and blurrier. Students then created three horizon lines and trees, the closest were dark while the ones farther away got lighter and smaller. This was a great lesson for teaching color theory- monochromatic, tints and shades as well as the concept of value and how it adds depth to an artwork.

Textured Autumn Trees

Students in grades 1-3 created these textured autumn artworks! We began by painting the background- students first learned the three cool colors- blue, green, and purple. We then created concentric circles and painted in the design with cool colors. We then created textured rubbings and painted over the design with red and orange paint. These are common fall leaf colors and would also create a good color contrast with the sky because they are warm colors. Students painted a tree and added some textured grass for a more three-dimensional feel. This lesson covered texture, warm vs. cool colors, and also pattern.