Fall Color Mixing Trees | Painting Project for Kindergarten & 1st Grade

Bring fall color into the art room with a painting project designed specifically for Kindergarten and 1st Grade. In Fall Color Mixing Trees, students learn how artists mix and use warm fall colors while creating their own colorful autumn tree. Students paint a large tree trunk and branches, experiment with red and yellow to create orange and other fall color variations, and use brushes, cotton swabs, fingertips, or sponge daubers to create colorful leaf textures. The project is simple enough for young artists while still teaching meaningful art concepts and skills. Why Teachers Will Love It - Designed specifically for K–1 - Teaches real color-mixing skills - Uses a fun fall theme - Introduces warm colors - Builds brush control - Includes texture exploration - Includes simple planning pages - Includes step-by-step project directions - Includes practice pages before the final artwork - Includes reflection and assessment - Includes early-finisher options - Creates colorful seasonal artwork for display Perfect For - Kindergarten art - 1st grade art - Fall art projects - Autumn painting lessons - Color mixing lessons - Warm color lessons - Elementary painting - October art - November art - Seasonal classroom displays - Homeschool art - Beginning painting practice Skills & Concepts Students explore: - Color mixing - Red + yellow = orange - Warm fall colors - Brush control - Line - Shape - Texture - Leaf-making techniques - Simple artistic planning - Painting - Creating a finished artwork - Reflection Materials Needed Suggested materials include: - Drawing or painting paper - Tempera paint - Red paint - Yellow paint - Brown paint - Paintbrushes - Water cups - Paper towels - Cotton swabs, optional - Sponge daubers, optional - Finger painting, optional - Printed practice and planning pages Estimated Time Approximately 2–4 class periods, depending on class length, drying time, and how much practice students complete before creating the final artwork. Teacher Tip Let students experiment with mixing red and yellow before beginning the final tree. Giving young artists time to discover different oranges and warm-color variations makes the painting stage much more successful.