Wondering what to do with the leaves and other odds and ends that have blown in from your fall nature walks? Turn them into paintbrushes!

We tried out a few different methods for this fun art project. Some twigs we brought home already had multiple leaves attached, and these were ready-made brushes.

The other option is to gather together a few leaves of the same size and shape, and secure with twine or string around a twig.

Pine needles made a brush that looked like a mini broom!

I set Travis up with his “brushes” and paints, and let his creativity go wild. We started out with small pieces of poster board to paint on…

But he requested a bigger canvas, which soon had him splattering and swishing colors this way and that.

He loved pouring out big dollops of paint and running the brush through them.

Our verdict is that the pine needle brush definitely worked best, but all of them were fun. “Mom, is it okay if I’m messy?” he asked at one point. Embrace the chaos and say yes, and let your little artist have fun with this one! You can always wipe the paints off the floor after.