Leaf Burst Paintings

This art activity was inspired by Fletcher and the Falling Leaves. To learn more about the book and see all of our Fletcher activities, click here.

Beautiful autumn leaves are so much fun to collect, but what to do with them once you bring them home? Try making Leaf Burst Paintings, of course!

This simple and quick painting activity helps young readers develop pre-writing skill by grasping the paintbrush and focusing on outward brush strokes as well as spatial skills by exploring positive and negative space.

The finished prints are quite fun to look at and we guarantee that creating just one won’t be nearly enough…kind of like collecting all those beautiful leaves!  

Leaf Burst Painting

Supplies

• Scotch tape
• paper
• paint
• paintbrush

1. Go for a nature walk and collect several leaves. The leaves should not be torn or have holes and not be too crunchy yet.
2. Make a loop of scotch tape and attach the leaf to the piece of construction paper.
3. Starting at the center of leaf paint outward strokes to cover the paper. It might help your young reader with the concept of painting outward by comparing it to the rays of the sun.
4. Once the paint has been applied, carefully remove the leaf and allow to dry.