Fall Leaf Painting and Tearing Art Activity

Autumn is here in Ontario, and it is a wonderful time to explore the colours of the season while building important fine motor skills. In this activity, you and your child will create a textured fall leaf picture by tearing paper and painting, which helps strengthen little hand muscles needed for writing and everyday tasks.

What you need

• Construction paper in red, orange, and yellow
• Washable child-friendly paints
• Paintbrushes or cotton swabs
• A large piece of paper or cardboard for the background
• Child-safe scissors
• Glue stick

How to do it

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1. Sit together at a comfortable table with your materials ready within reach.
2. Talk about the colours of the leaves changing outside during October.
3. Show your child how to gently pinch and tear the colourful construction paper into smaller pieces.
4. Help your child use a glue stick to attach the torn paper pieces onto the background sheet.
5. Dip the paintbrushes or cotton swabs into the washable paint.
6. Add painted details, dots, or strokes around and over the paper pieces.
7. Set the artwork aside in a safe spot to dry completely.
8. Celebrate your child’s hard work with lots of specific praise for trying their best.

Make it easier or harder

• Use visual supports like a picture schedule to show the steps of the activity one at a time.
• Offer gentle hand-over-hand prompting if your child needs support holding the paintbrush or tearing the paper.
• Provide larger paper pieces to make tearing easier, or pre-cut strips for beginners.
• For an extra challenge, have your child use child-safe scissors to snip the paper instead of tearing.

Skills your child practises

• Pinching and tearing paper to build hand strength
• Using a paintbrush to develop hand-eye coordination
• Following multi-step instructions together
• Exploring textures and colours

Remember that every child works at their own pace, so keep the atmosphere light and fun!

If you would like more ideas tailored to your child, or have questions about OAP funding and our teaching packages, we invite you to book a free 20-minute call with our Toronto-based team at bloomaba.ca.

Cover image: photo by Stephen Andrews on Unsplash