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!

Fall leaves in Tissue Paper

Nothing is more beautiful than a tree emboldened with crimson and pumpkin colored leaves. In Santa Barbara, we have few trees that display this wonderful show but our imaginations make up for this lack of seasonal change.
I was inspired by Kathy's art journal pages from Art Project for Kids and wondered how I could translate this lesson for my second grade class.
I found a perfect line drawing of fall leaves, cut some squares of red, orange, yellow, green (and yes, I'll admit it...) purple and let my students enjoy the color of autumn.

Supplies:
6" x 9" white drawing paper
Tissue paper cut into 5" x 5" squares
Mixture of white glue and water
small paint brush
Black marker (waterproof is best)

Time: One 40-minute class

The Set-up

Step One: Tracing the Leaves

Step Three: Arrange the leaves on the paper and brush
smooth with the glue mixture

Step Four: Pick your next leaf and do it again!
Encourage overlapping!

The Results!

Fall Leaves; Stencilled Leaves Lesson

This is fast approaching my favorite lesson for first graders based on ease and simplicity. They love doing this lesson. It's a messy one, so be prepared for lots of clean-up, but it's very easy to do. Full instructions can be found here.
This year, instead of using regular tempera paint with this lesson, I added metallic paint to the mixture. I think the results are stunning!

These beautiful images are from Mrs. Cordero-Rabe's 1st grade class at Brandon School.

Fall Leaves

Need a beautiful, very accessible project for first graders? This fall stencil project is perfect.
Very little prep is needed...just a short jaunt outside to clip some leaves. Make sure the leaves are fresh, not the crispy dried ones that have already fallen. Pour white tempera paint into a paper plate or plastic palette, and add reds, blues, greens and yellows to another multi-paint palette.

1. Place a leaf and a 12 x 18 sheet of black construction paper on each child's desk/place.
2. Put a stack of scrap paper in the middle of the table.
   
3. Place one palette of white paint with appropriate number of brushes in middle of table.
4. Demonstrate how to brush the white paint onto the "rib side" of the leaf. Be sure to coat the entire leaf. Place painted leaf carefully on black paper. Cover with a scrap and gently rub the leaf until you are sure all the paint is rubbed on.
5. Lift up the scrap paper then peel the leaf off the black paper. Wow! The kids think this part is amazing.
6. Repeat step 5 at least 4 times. Encourage the children to go off the edge of the page for n all-over look.
7. After all the leaves have been stenciled on, bring out the palettes of colored paint along with some cut up sponges.
8. Using just one sponge per child, dips sponge in colored paint and dab around leaves. Kids can use two colors, or more. Leave it up to them.
9. Enjoy the results!

(Mrs. Erickson's class: top right: Molly, Jacob, l-r Alex, Gia and Anya)