Tag Archive for: art

A Monster Art Project

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monster art project

I had sooooooo much fun doing this monster art project in my son Elliot’s kindergarten class recently! I chose to do this project because Elliot LOVES monsters and he LOVES using his imagination to make characters come to life. We have enjoyed using popsicle stick puppets for many many years and he always enjoys both creating his monsters and using his imagination to play with them later.

For this project, I wanted to guide the children in using details to create their monsters with texture. I made this dice game to give the project a fun aspect that would give them a variety of options.

Monster Art Lesson Objective

Monster Art Lesson Objective

Materials

Directions

  1. Introducing the Monster Art Project: I always like to start by showing children what my version of the final product looks like. That way, when I start explaining all of the steps, they will understand what the big picture will be. Also, by first doing the project myself, I have a good understanding of what things were easy and what things were more challenging. 🙂 So first I showed the children my monster popsicle puppets, we talked about what texture was, and I explained that adding details makes any project more interesting.

    Monster Popsicle Stick Puppets

    Monster Popsicle Stick Puppets

  2. Guided Practice with the Create a Monster Dice Game: It is so tempting to just give directions and launch right into independent practice, but by starting any new skill, lesson, or project together with guidance, children will have a much deeper understanding of what they can do. (Download the game here.) To start this project, I rolled a die and had children follow along with me as we created our first monster together. For the next monster, I rolled the die again, but let them choose to either follow me or choose their own. After that, they created one or two more monsters on their own.monster dice game
  3. Coloring the Monsters: After everyone had drawn their monsters, I handed out my monster templates. One set of templates has features missing and the other set is completed monsters that I had drawn earlier. It was nice to be able to give children a variety of entry points into the project. One aspect was drawing their own monsters, but with the other aspect of adding texture, I wanted to give them a variety of more completed options.
    Monster Templates with Missing Features

    Monster Templates with Missing Feature

    Completed Monsters Coloring Page

    Completed Monsters Coloring Page

    Monsters Colored In

    Monsters Colored In

  4. Adding Texture: It was so wonderful to see what the children added for their texture pieces. Some really wanted to copy the ideas I showed them (like unrolling cotton balls to put under the feet like smoke or adding tufts of hair using the yarn), and others really thought outside the box, especially with the foam pieces and texture scissors. One thing I didn’t do but think kids would have really enjoyed is to offer colored squares of construction paper that they could use to cut out for the shape of the body.

    Texture Supplies

    Texture Supplies

  5. Popsicle Sticks: I used a hot glue gun to attach a magnet to the back of each popsicle stick so that children could keep their monster popsicle sticks on the fridge, but really this is optional. The popsicle sticks alone are fun enough!

    Jumbo Popsicle Sticks with Magnets on the Back

    Jumbo Popsicle Sticks with Magnets on the Back

  6. Continue the Fun: This is a great ongoing project to keep set up in your classroom or home. I love having little stations set up around the house where the kids can continue to work on projects that I’ve introduced independently. Children could continue to draw more monsters using the dice game, add color and texture to monsters, or use their monster popsicle sticks to play imagination games.

    Ruby (7) Playing the Create a Monster Game

    Ruby (7) Playing the Create a Monster Game

  7. Julian (2) Coloring Some Monsters

    Julian (2) Coloring Some Monsters

    Elliot's Monsters

    Elliot’s (5) Monsters

In Conclusion

When you give children too open ended of a project, it can be hard for them to get started or know what to do, but by introducing a specific focus (like adding details and texture) it gives children the freedom to be creative within the parameters of the structure. I totally saw that in this lesson. All children were working on adding details and texture, but their monsters all looked very very different and matched their own specific interests and personalities. Not only that, but I heard from several parents that their children had fun continuing this art project at home.

If you want to inspire young artists, read these books!

I think that’s the beautiful thing about art, or any lesson for that matter. If children are excited about what they are learning, then they will continue the learning on their own. Check out my teacher’s pay teacher’s store for more resources that I’ve created to help your child build a strong foundation in core skills.

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6 Fall Leaf Art Activities

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Embracing Motherhood Fall Art Projects

When I was researching a fall art project to do in my daughter Ruby’s 1st grade classroom, I came across all kinds of wonderful ideas to try. I found some that worked, many that didn’t, created some of my own, recalled the ones I liked to do as a child, and came up with a pretty good hodge podge of fall leaf art activities to choose from.

1. Make a Tree

I chose this as the activity to do in my daughter’s classroom, and I even did a little mini-lesson on why leaves change color. It was so fun to channel my inner teacher, and the kids had a lot of fun with it too. I enjoyed encouraging the students to be creative and to think about ways that they could integrate art and nature at home. They were very excited to try these new ideas at home!

Tree Made Out of Leaves

Tree Made Out of Leaves

Materials

  • An assortment of different colored leaves
  • Large piece of paper
  • Glue
  • Brown crayon (or paint, or shredded brown leaves – for the trunk)

Directions

  1. Collect a variety of leaves. They can all be from one type of tree for a more uniform look, or you can collect leaves from a variety of different trees. *Note: Do not collect leaves, put them in a bag, store them for a week, and then try to use them. They will all be brown!  (I had to learn this the hard way!)
  2. Draw a trunk on a large piece of paper using crayon paint, or even cut up pieces of brown leaves.
  3. Add the leaves one layer at a time using glue to make them stick. Start with the green on the bottom, then any yellow green, then yellow, then orange, then red, and finally purple. I like layering them like this because this is the way I’ve noticed that trees typically change color. *It makes it a little easier if you can remove the stems. As an adult, I just used my fingernail to snap it off, but this was too hard for the kids so they just used scissors.
  4. Add a few brown leaves to the bottom of the paper.
  5. Lay flat to dry.
Making Leaf Trees in Ruby's Class

Making Leaf Trees in Ruby’s Class

2. Leaf Printing

This was one of the activities on Pinterest that looked MUCH better than what I could actually do, but I still think it turned out pretty cool. I really had a hard time deciding between this art project or the tree making project to do in my daughter’s classroom. I brought these examples along and the kids begged me to do this project next time I come in.

Red, Orange, Yellow, and Green Leaf Printing

Red, Orange, Yellow, and Green Leaf Printing

Rainbow Leaf Printing

Rainbow Leaf Printing

Materials

  • A few leaves of different shapes and sizes
  • Paint
  • Large piece of paper
  • Paper plate

Directions

  1. Using a paper plate, squirt a fifty cent piece sized dollop of each color of paint around the paper plate.
  2. Dip the bottom of your leaf into the paint and then press onto the paper. *The first time you do it, it’s going to be a bit gloppy, but the more times you press it, the lighter and more detailed of an impression it will leave. If you really want to capture the shape of the leaf, gently press down on all parts of it with your hand.
  3. Layer the colors however you’d like. I went with a green, yellow, orange, and red motif.
  4. Add a few falling leaves and some leaves on the ground.
  5. Lay flat to dry.
  6. *To take this idea to the next level, you could create a template in the shape of say a butterfly for example, do the leaf printings over the top, and then remove the template for a really cool design.

3. Leaf Rubbing

I remember doing this activity when I was a kid and being simply amazed at the amount of detail that came through. (I still am!) I had the kids in Ruby’s class who finished early make these leaf rubbings, and they LOVED it! They were shoving leaves in their backpacks so that they could go home and do this some more.

Leaf Rubbing

Leaf Rubbing

Materials

  • Peeled crayons, assorted colors
  • White paper
  • One or more leaves

Directions

  1. Gather at least one leaf or more for variety.
  2. Lay the leaf under the paper upside down (bumpy side up).
  3. Peel the paper off from a crayon and rub it sideways over the leaf.

4. Magnet Leaf Characters

This activity definitely took the most materials and preparation, but it should last for a really long time and provide many opportunities for imaginative play. My son Elliot loved helping me put the eyes on. (Notice the number of cyclops!) He keeps bringing them around the house and sticking them to doors, doorways, washers, dryers, refrigerators, and anything else he can find that’s magnetic!

Magnet Leaf Characters

Magnet Leaf Characters

Materials

  • An assortment of different colored leaves
  • Laminator (I use this.)
  • Laminating sheets (Something like these.)
  • Googly eyes (You can buy them in bulk here or you can get stick on ones here and skip the hole hot glue gun part.)
  • Magnet tape (Something like this.)
  • Hot glue gun. (I like this mini one.)
  • Glue gun sticks. (Here you go.)

Directions

  1. Take the stems off from the leaves, position them in the laminating pouches, and run them through the laminator. *Make sure there is plenty of room between each leaf so that you can leave a laminate border.

    Laminate Border for Leaf Magnets

    Laminate Border for Leaf Magnets

  2. To affix the googly eyes, you can just buy the stick on ones, you can use a hot glue gun, or you can use regular white glue. *If you use a hot glue gun, you’ll have to immediately hold the leaf upside down so that the little black part in the eye ball doesn’t get stuck to the bottom. It’s a little bit of a hassle, but it dries right away and will stay attached no matter what!
  3. Stick some magnet tape on the back.
  4. *You could also attach these to popsicle sticks to make little puppets. (Just like my popsicle stick figures!)

5. Stained Glass Leaves

This is my mother’s tried and true, one and only, fall leaf art project! I remember doing this all the time as a kid and now she has taught my children how to do it too! It’s a really fun and simple way to make some art with fall leaves.

Stained Glass Leaves

Stained Glass Leaves

Materials

  • An assortment of different colored leaves
  • Wax paper
  • Crayon pieces (save the scraps from a crayon sharpener)
  • Iron
  • Ironing board

Directions

  1. Collect a variety of leaves and remove the stems.
  2. Lay down a piece of wax paper and arrange some leaves on top of it.
  3. Sprinkle crayon pieces all over the leaves.
  4. Cover with another piece of wax paper.
  5. Set the iron to a medium-high setting, and quickly iron over the wax paper. The wax should stick together and the melted crayon pieces should really hold things together. *Before ironing, you might want to put down a protective layer over your ironing board, like a paper bag or something.
Crayon Sprinkles on Leaves and Wax Paper

Crayon Sprinkles on Leaves and Wax Paper

6. Open Ended Leaf Project

I think that having an open ended art project that lets children use their imaginations and creativity to do whatever they want is really the best. This works especially well after you’ve showed them a bunch of different techniques. By letting children follow their own intuitions about what looks beautiful and what is art, that is what being an artist is all about.

Stacking Leaves

Stacking Leaves

I would recommend gathering a big pile of leaves of assorted colors and shapes, and setting them out with an assortment of other supplies like glitter, glue, stickers, crayons, markers, pencils, cotton balls, yarn, and whatever else you can think of and let them go wild! They will probably have the most fun of all doing this!

Have fun with your fall leaves!!!

If you have a child who’s asking, “Why do the leaves turn different colors?” you’ll want to check out my blog: Why Do Leaves Change Color in the Fall?

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