This art project is on the messy side, but it’s a great way for even little toddlers to paint fall foliage!

To start, cut a piece of watercolor paper (or similar thick paper) in half lengthwise, so you have two rectangles.

Next, cut strips of yarn and arrange over one of your rectangles. The more the yarn loops and curls the neater an effect you’ll achieve. That said, I had to work quickly before curious Veronika pulled up all the pieces of yarn I was laying down!

I set out red, orange, and yellow paint, and Veronika immediately wanted to open them all. Carefully, we poured a blob of each color over the yarn. Again, I had to work quickly and only managed one blob of each color; be more deliberate and dot a few blobs of each for a more marbled effect.

Place the remaining rectangle of paper on top of the yarn, making sure one end of each yarn piece is sticking out. I showed Veronika how to pull on these ends; they were like little worms she could tug at.

Lift up the top sheet of paper and reveal all the fall colors!

Veronika, I confess, was decidedly unimpressed. She decided it was a lot more fun to dump out extra orange paint and then smear her hands through it.

To add to the mess, she loved running the paint-covered strands of yarn through her orange hands.

But she had a blast, and I loved watching her enjoy this part of the art process!

Meanwhile, once the original paintings had dried, I added a brown trunk to each with marker to complete our fall trees.

These will look so pretty up in the playroom for the rest of the season!