The Leaves of Change: Coffee Filter Fall Leaves

We had tons of fun creating this project.  From start to finish we worked on it together … and discussed the changes that were occurring in our life as a family … as well as the changing of the season around us.  It started off with seeing the Tie Dyed Coffee Filter Fall Leaves from The Chocolate Muffin Tree.

I started the project by taking an oak leaf from the front yard, of the house we currently live at, to trace it on the coffee filter.  Then, I put several filters together (like how they come packaged) and cut many “leaves” from the one that I traced.  The kids and I then spent the next couple days created different leaves when we had the chance.  We did this by scribbling on the leaves with washable markers and then taking a wet paintbrush to create a watercolor effect on the leaves.

The process had a very existential and sensory aspect to it as the sharp lines of the scribbles softened, faded, and blended together.  They CHANGED … very much like the world around us does in fall.  Very much like we all do through life.  This is how I discovered it would be a beautiful use of art media in play therapy to demonstrate and discuss change (a frequent and CENTRAL issue/topic in therapy).

After the leaves were complete and dry, I gave Henry the task of finding a branch from outside that we could use to glue the leaves on.  He completely the task superbly and found the perfect stick.  I then hot glued several of our favorite leaves onto the branch and tied long pieces of raffia on so I can hang it in our new house.

Made at, and from pieces around, our old house … to be hung in our new.  The leaves of change.


The following two tabs change content below.

Laura Hutchison

Laura Hutchison (aka PlayDrMom) is a chubby kid turned competitive figure skater tween turned high school pom pon girl turned MSU Spartan turned grad student turned Mrs. HutcH turned Dr. turned Mom. She adores living in the Mitten, is addicted to Diet Coke, and firmly believes that ice cream is a main food group.

Latest posts by Laura Hutchison (see all)

Comments
  1. Holli

    What a great activity for the fall. I think I might even be able to try this with my twin-20 month-old boys…with a “little” help from mom. I’d love for you to share this at our Fall Bucket List link-up.

    http://www.creativefamilyfun.net/2012/09/100-ideas-for-your-fall-bucket-list.html

    Found you via “Creative Family Fun’s” list. Happy to be a new follower!

  2. Holli

    My apologies as I gave the wrong address for our link-up. Here is the correct one!

    http://www.fullhands-fullhearts.com/2012/08/2012-fall-bucket-list-idea-share_30.html

    Thanks, again!

  3. Jenny

    What a great project for kids! Those leaves look great.

  4. Bethany

    What fun! We are All Year Round Blog Carnival co-hosts and we’ve featured you here http://littlehomeschoolblessings.blogspot.com/2012/10/all-year-round-carnival-september-round.html?m=1 .

  5. april cramer

    I am so going to try this with my girl scout troop for a fall art project.

  6. nicole rowan

    This is so creative! We especially love multi step projects. Thanks.

Leave A Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CommentLuv badge