Seeing the Colors of Fall!

For this project, we took our inspiration from nature and the beauty of the season. We talked about why leaves change color and fall from trees this time of year and made a cool science connection. We learned a little about photosynthesis, the process by which leaves make food for the plant or tree!

The pre-K, kindergarten, and first grade created some beautiful leaf resist paintings using the colors of fall. The students traced different shaped leaves with a white oil pastel on white paper. The leaves were almost invisible! We then painted with tempera over the pastel lines and revealed a "magic and hidden" leaf image. We later discovered that the lines appeared because the oil in the pastel resisted the water in the paint "like a raincoat." 

Second through fifth grade drew still life images of autumn leaves. We looked at several examples of leaf still life from other artists and then decided to arrange our own leaf still life arrangements at tables. The students used chalk pastel to create these images. Some of us were even looking for shadows and a light source on the leaves!