Do you want an easy peasy art activity for both grown-ups and kids alike? Let me introduce you (or re-introduce you since this is a classic idea) to leaf rubbings with crayons and watercolor!
I did this myself with some glorious free time that I had last weekend. Miraculously, everyone was out of my house for 48 hours. I have to say, it was bliss. Especially for a creative introvert who loves alone time and time to make something. I hadn’t made these in years and after going for a walk and collecting some leaves, I came inside and set this up in less than 10 minutes.
The best part about this art project is that making these little beauties takes less than 2 minutes. And it’s SUPER fun playing around with colors.
Scroll down and watch a short video of me making these “one minute” leaf rubbings. You’ll see how easy they are.
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Supplies needed for Leaf Rubbings:
~ Leaves
~ White sulphite paper (a denser, higher end construction paper)
~ Crayons (take paper off)
How to make Leaf Rubbings:
1. Collect some leaves from outside.
2. Cut larger sheets of sulphite paper into smaller squares or rectangles. These are 5 X 5 inches.
3. Take the papers off crayons. The I do this is by soaking them in warm water for an hour or so, and then peeling off the papers. I actually had my art students do this, 3-5yr olds, and they LOVED this activity.
4. Place a leave underneath the paper.
5. Turn your crayon on it’s side and rub over the leave with some pressure. I like using a darker crayon color and a lighter paint color, but I encourage you to play around with color. Some people use a white crayon and then paint their watercolor over that so that the white remains white. This is more “magical” and little kids love this. But you have to press hard enough so that the white crayon really leaves a heavy mark on the paper.
6. Paint in the leaf.
7. Paint around the leaf. I use two different colors for the inside and outside.
Here I am making another one with different colors.
I used two different crayon colors this time.
Here is a short video of me making these “one minute” leaf rubbings. You’ll see how easy they are!
You almost can’t make any mistakes with this little art project. There is no way to make these look bad! I left a white border around the edge which makes them feel like prints.
I love the idea of hanging these in a nook on the wall in a grid like above. Maybe with some washi tape. Or maybe put them all in a bigger frame.
I’m going to punch a small hole in mine in the corner and tie them to gifts this Christmas.
xo Bar
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Did you like this post? Here are more leaf art ideas:
Thanks for another beautiful and simple art project! The video is helpful too! I’ll be trying this out with my students soon.
I watched the video with my 3 year old granddaughter. She wanted to go collect leaves the minute it was done. LOL you should have seen her gather a wagon full of leaves! She said “Grammy, you need to tell him I loved the music video because it was full of colors! ” Thank you~
awwww, so happy to hear this and to know that I’ve inspired your granddaughter to make art with nature!! thanks for writing! xx Bar
Oh I’ve totally forgotten about leaf-rubbings. I MUST try this at home, thank you for the inspiration.
I love this arts and crafts idea. It was perfect timing because I was looking for a fun activity to do with the kids outside during winter recess. The kids enjoyed running around picking out their favorite leaf and coloring them. Thank you so much =)
This works!It is so great me and my kids had sooooo much fun with this.I HIGHLY recommend this.
we’ve done this project twice now, each time with great success! the first time was with senior citizens as a craft fair activity during our annual Senior Festival, the second time was with children at our employee first (hopefully annual) trunk-or-treat event!