Potato Print Autumn Trees

Starting point

Who can fail to be stunned by the colours of the trees as their colours turn in the Autumn?

At Playgroup we recently placed a collection of leaves in a builder's tray for the children to touch and play with. Admittedly some some of the leaves we used were fake, as we can't always find the perfect leaves just when we want them!

Then we did some potato print trees reflecting the colours we could see.

Equipment

Autumn Leaves
A4 Paper with photocopied tree shape
Paper plates for holding the paint
Poster Paint of various autumnal hues
Potatoes cut into half, with leaf veins gouged out in advance
Baby Wipes
Paint Overalls

Preparation

1. Draw a tree shape onto A4 paper and photocopy as many as you need.

2. Cut smallish potatoes in half and gouge a simple leaf vein pattern into each half.

3. Pour poster paint onto paper plates, ready for the children to use.

Prepared for business

Method

1. First roll up sleeves and dress children in paint overalls.

2. Demonstrate to children how to dip potatoes in paint and print to make patterns. Note that it may be best to blot the paint slightly before actually printing, as otherwise the veins may become blurred over.

3. Allow children to experiment with printing/colours as they wish. They may well wish to do more than one!

Hey Presto!

The results may not be 'perfect' but each one is a work of art!