Festive Three-Dimensional Fall Trees For Preschool

Photo Source: Flickr | masukomi

Looking to add a whole new dimension to your fall art projects? Try this spectacular 3D tree from Carisa at 1+1+1=1.

Supplies You'll Need

The Creative Process: Day 1

  1. Provide students with water color paper, water color paints, a shallow dish of water, and kids paint brushes. Invite them to wet the entire piece of paper with their brush and water, then apply dots of water color paint in fall tones. Your students will love watching the color "spread" across the page and the mixing of colors. Set water color painting aside to dry.
  2. With brown craft paint and sponge brushes, have your students paint their recycled paper towel rolls and set aside to dry.
  3. Provide students with fall leaf cutouts made from paper towel or coffee filters. Invite them to color the leaves with markers in fall tones (yellow, red, brown, orange, green). When finished, place the leaves on a covered surface, prepare a spray bottle with water, and spray the colored leaves with water. As the water soaks into the paper towel or coffee filter paper, the colors will spread, creating a tie dye effect. Set aside to dry.

(NOTE: You know your students. If you suspect that there is too much going on and that your students are likely to get overwhelmed by so many projects in one day, split them up. The goal is to have happy creative kids, not frustrated, overworked children!)

The Creative Process: Day 2

Most of the crafting will be done on day one (or split between several days), so the last day is basically putting together all of the finished projects. Using craft scissors, have your students make six 1/2-inch slits around one edge of their paper towel tube. These will be flared out and attached to the center of the water color painting (or ground). Have them make ten slits of various lengths (e.g. 3-inch, 4-inch, 5-inch) at the other end of the tube. These will be flared out to create tree branches. Using small dots of glue, invite your students to decorate the tree branches with their fall leaves.

These crafts are certain to keep your students busy! They're festive, allow your students to experiment with different art tools and techniques, and are sure to make a great fall centerpiece at school or home!

1+1+1=1: Something Special ~ Fall Tree Craft