Squirrel: Fall Art Project
Inspiration for this project found on Pinterest.
This project has instructions for painted paper. If you prefer to not do painted paper, you can skip day one and use red, yellow, brown and orange construction paper instead.
Time required: 2 sessions (if doing painted paper)
Day 1 - 30 min
Day 2 - 60 min
Materials day 1 (painted paper)
White paper
Liquid paint (we use tempera)
Large paint brush
Water cup
Materials day 2 (squirrel & assembly)
Painted paper sheets from day 1 OR construction paper
White paper
Pencil & eraser
Brown paint & paintbrush OR brown pencil crayon, marker, crayon or pastel
Sharpie
Glue stick
Grey pencil crayon, crayon or pastel (chalk or oil)
Teacher prep for day 1
In an effort not to make the tables a total disaster and to allow an edge to hold onto, I printed a large rectangle onto white paper. This gave them a guide so that they only painted to the line, not to the edge of the paper. This also helped them to carry their painted sheet to the drying rack.
Steps day 1:
Pour paint onto palettes or plates and divide them among students.
Students will mix the paint on their sheet to cover the entire area. I recommend painting in one direction, rather than swirls or back and forth motions.
Once the entire area is covered, leave it to dry.
Before leaving for the day, take the papers off the drying rack or counter. They’ll probably be curled, so flatten as best you can, then put them under something heavy to get weighed down overnight.
Teacher prep day 2
Take the weighed down painted papers and cut off the white excess around the edges. Cut the remaining sheet into 6 sections.
Steps day 2:
On the white paper, draw a squirrel holding an acorn. You can do this directed drawing style.
Behind the squirrel, add some trees.
Trace the squirrel in black Sharpie. *don’t do the trees
Colour the squirrel using the medium of your choice (paint, marker, pastel, crayon or pencil crayon).
To do the trees, outline them in grey. If you’re using a medium that will blend, add a bit of shadow, otherewise draw the shadow.
Cut leaves out of the painted paper or the construction paper and glue them onto the background around the squirrel.
