Around Halloween time, I saw the coolest project on Carissa Darling for Spooky Black Glue Drawings. They used black glue to create some spooky Halloween pictures. We never had time to make those pictures, but with Fall upon us, we made some Fall leaves using black glue. We have since used black glue for other projects such as Black Glue and Watercolor Pumpkins and Hearts with Black Glue.
Jump to:
Why watercolor fall leaves are awesome
- A fun fall art project for kids of all ages
Supplies
- Black paint
- regular white school glue in a glue bottle
- Paper (I used copy paper)
- Water color paints and brush
- Construction paper
How to make fall leaves with black glue
To make your black glue, just squirt some black paint into your Elmer's glue bottle. I wanted to be sure to have a dark black color so I emptied out most of the white glue from the bottle until there was only ¼ left. Then I added some squirts of black paint and shook it up.
I was left with some cool-looking black glue.
Older kids would probably have a great time making their own leaf picture. Since my kids are all ages 3 and under, I made the leaf picture outline. Note that this is not much of an improvement.
I added some veins.
These took forever to dry. I made them while the kids were napping, thinking we could use them when they woke up. Nope. It took a day for the black glue to dry. So plan accordingly.
When the glue had dried, I talked to the girls about Fall leaves and the different colors they can be. Of course, this went in one ear and out the other. The kids used watercolors to paint the leaves whatever colors they wanted.
Little C was so into painting her leaf. Her colors actually did look like all the shades of Fall with the combination of yellow and orange!
When "A" finished painting her leaf with watercolour paint, she decided to paint the paper surrounding it too.
After the paintings were dry, I cut them out and glued them to some Fall colored construction paper. They would also really pop on black construction paper or white cardstock. I left one on the water-colored background to show you how it looks. I really like both options. I was so pleased with the vibrant leaves the kids created. Even B who painted a large portion of her Fall leaf black still managed to have a colorful leaf.
For more fun activities for kids, check out Green Kid Crafts for environmentally friendly crafts.
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Marcia
These are fabulous and so simple to make which is a big plus! Thanks for sharing.
Marcia 🙂
AllieMakes!
That's a great project! I think my little one's will love it
Thanks for linking up to Making It With Allie this week! I can't wait to see what you have for next week!
AllieMakes.Blogspot.com
Lisa @ Lisa's Craft Blog
This is a really neat idea!! I don't have kids, but can think of a grown-up version that could be really cool too!! If I try it, I'll definitely let you know!!
Thanks for sharing!!
~Lisa
Audrey's mom
What a unique idea! Audrey is always asking to use glue. I will have to pick up a bottle at the dollar store and see where we have the paint stashed.
Whole Child Creative Curriculum
What a striking project! I might try a variation on it with brown glue and turkeys! 😉
Carla @ Whole Child Creative Curriculum
Zimms Zoo
Thanks for stopping by the Zimms Zoo. You have a great site here and if I had more time to spend with my little guys I would do a ton of these. But this black glue is something that all my guys will like and we can do together.
Artsy VaVa
This is a great project! Thanks for sharing. I'm pinning this to my Kids Art Projects board.
Stacy Curran
That is SO cute! I love it!
Stacy
RedTedArt
I think these look absolutely beautiful! Really inspiring!
Thank you for sharing on Kids Get Crafty!
Maggy
JDaniel4's Mom
What a cute idea! I love the outline effect.
April
cute idea! I was lookingfor a few more fall actvities to dowith my crew
Charisa
Thanks for mentioning and linking to my site! We always have so much fun with black glue - there's so many possibilities! Your leaves turned out great!
Ruth Morgan
This looks like a wonderful activity to use with my autistic students!!!! Simple, yet a nice product to display, and more conversation about Fall. Thanks!
Cranberry Morning
Cute! Looks like those serious little crafters were having a good time. 🙂
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Polly @ Helping Little Hands
Love the strong contrast between the black glue and the paint.
folkhaven
I love this idea! It could be used with varying motifs all year long. Children's art just makes me happy. Can't wait for my toddler to be old enough to get started- shouldn't be too long now!
Karyn
Cute idea, I'll be trying this. Thanks for sharing.
COURtENEY.bRiANNE
Thanks for this great post, I am going to try it with my kids!
Returning the love from Bestmomreviews.com!
xoxox
Lisa
What a great idea! I love it! I am going to try something like this for leaves or maybe, like the previous commenter said, for Christmas!
Many blessings,
Lisa
Bev
what a great project! I may make some red or green to do Christmas ornaments or trees. thank you for taking the time to come see Princess Fiona's new hat and coat and leaving me a sweet comment.