Instead of screens today, why not try leaf printing?
After the glow party we had a considerable amount of fluro paint about the place (mostly on the walls, floors and ceilings…). Cappers asked if she could use some for art and craft and I said those immortal words that float from a mother’s lips as though from a time and space continuum, “As long as it’s outside.”
I then added, “And put something underneath so you don’t get (more) paint all over the deck.”
This sounds very familiar, no?
Young Cappers was outside for some time, trying the paint out on various mediums – paper, cardboard, sticks, rocks, etc. Very soon she was painting on leaves and quickly moved to printmaking by using the leaf as her stamp.
She challenged herself to create pictures from the leaf patterns she made, coming up with this very cute Mr Fox (although at our house Mr Foxes are never, ever cute). Clever cappers.
To make the prints, simply paint a glossy leaf with acrylic paint and press onto paper or card. Carefully peel the leaf back from the paper and admire the beautiful veiny patterns.
If you’ve got little kids: they will enjoy the simple process of finding and then painting on the leaves. Challenge them to find as many different coloured or shaped leaves as they can. As they get a little bigger, they will be able to make their own prints using the technique above.
Middle and bigger kids will enjoy the fun of making the prints and the challenge of turning their leaf prints into a picture. Collect as many different kinds of leaves as you can and make patterns and pictures out of them. Add googly eyes and legs to leaf prints to make a village of leaf people. Print them a forest with houses, shops and… trees.
What can you see in your leaf pattern?
Let’s play!
Facebook | Twitter | Bloglovin | G+
Di from Max The Unicorn says
I’m still having trouble commenting, will try again without my website link. This is a great idea and one I’ll probably use in the school holidays as my son would love leaf print painting. Love the fox print!
Melanie msjschole.blogspot.com says
im going to do this with my summer scholé nature group next week. Such a beautiful work of art. Thanks!