Isn’t autumn just wonderful for crafting inspiration? We’ve done so many lovely craft activities already this season, and these simple leaf prints are our latest masterpiece.
With so many fabulous leaves lying around, we thought we’d get the paints out and put them to good use. First job was to head out for a walk in the park to find some leaves in varying shapes and sizes.
After a good debate about which leaves were our favourites, and which ones might make good prints, the kids chose this selection.
We used white A3 paper to make our leaf prints, simply because that’s what we had in the craft box. It worked well with strongly coloured paints, although I do love the idea of using black paper with some super-bright neon paints too.
We painted one side of each leaf, then pressed it carefully onto the paper.
You do need to be a little bit careful when you press the leaves down, to avoid making them slide around too much. We found that peeling them off slowly left a better imprint from the leaf too.
Here are our finished leaf prints – what do you think?
This was a super-simple craft which needed hardly any preparation, I love how the kids could just let their imaginations loose with colour mixing, patterns and thickness of paint. We talked about how we might do it differently next time, and the kids want to try cutting out the leaves when they’re dry to make them into a mobile – sounds good doesn’t it!
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Linda aka Crafty Gardener says
November 4, 2016 at 10:28 pmSuch a fun Fall activity.
Catherine says
November 6, 2016 at 7:57 pmIt’s been one of our favourites this season, I think the fact that it’s a bit messy just adds to the fun!
Tara says
November 7, 2016 at 2:43 pmThis looks like fabulous fun. I love the colours in your photos, they definitely show-off the season in all its glory. #chasingnature
Catherine says
November 7, 2016 at 5:29 pmThanks Tara – nature just knows how to do colour doesn’t it?!
Kelly Robinson says
November 12, 2016 at 8:01 pmWhat a wonderful selection of leaves and the prints came out so amazingly well. Love the idea of using neon paint on black paper. I can imagine the results being quite impressive! Thank you for adding another wonderful post to #ChasingNature
Catherine says
November 13, 2016 at 8:06 amI was quite surprised at just how much detail we got on the prints, even with tonnes of paint and little hands! We learnt that you can print the same leaf a few times before putting paint on it again too.
Tamsin Mathias says
November 12, 2016 at 11:10 pmThis looks like so much fun! I must have done something like this in school at some point, but I really can’t remember! I’ll have to try it with Esme when she’s a little bit older. She wouldn’t be all that bothered given her current age, and I’d look a little silly doing it by myself! Haha!
#ChasingNature
Catherine says
November 13, 2016 at 1:34 pmAh it’ll be a fab one to do when she’s a little bit older – I can’t remember doing it at school either, we did lots of potato printing though!
Jennifer says
November 21, 2016 at 9:52 amThat looks so much fun, and what a lovely piece of art when it’s finished! Thank you for linking up to #CraftingismyTherapy 🙂
Me, You and Magoo says
November 23, 2016 at 10:00 pmSuch a fun craft, we collected loads of leaves this year. I like the idea of a mobile…maybe a garland to hang on fireplace might be nice too. Thank you for linking up #craftingismytherapy
Catherine says
November 24, 2016 at 9:26 amOoh yes a garland would be brilliant!
Ollie Oakley says
September 20, 2018 at 12:22 amI remember doing this as well when I was a kid. This is actually one of the reasons why fall was a much-awaited time for my little self back then. 🙂
Thanks for sharing!