Autumn Collage for First Grade

My wee first graders splattered their way to a beautiful autumn collage. The process was fun (painting paper) and skill building (drawing, cutting and pasting). If you have pumpkins and squash available (fake or real), bring 'em out! The visuals really help the kids.

Supplies:
Lots of white drawing paper
Lots of autumn colored paints
Texture making tools (brushes, plastic forks, plastic cups, etc.)
12" x 18" black paper
Scissors and glue sticks
Pencils

The first step involves painting a lot of paper. I pre-selected the paint colors, setting out 3-4 fall colors per table. When mixing the paints, keep in mind what colors you will need for the final product. Think pumpkin, squash, stems and fall leaves.Using a variety of texturing techniques, the kids created their paper. Here's a tip: Ask the kids to completely paint their paper in one color first, then they can add the coordinating colors for textures, etc.
After the paper dries, demonstrate how to draw a pumpkin, stem and other types of squash. I don't use templates for this project because it just doesn't matter. Anything round, orange and has a stem will look like a pumpkin.

After the kids glue one or two pumpkins to a piece of black paper, they cut our leaves. I set out maple, oak and other leaf templates, but many kids drew their own. Whatever is easier. The kids really practiced alot of cutting with this project!
For a final flourish, I set out small containers of gold tempera paint and the kids added swirly vines and grooves on their pumpkins.

First Grade Results!