Trees Through the Seasons

There are over 1000 different kinds of trees in North America. How many can you name in one minute?

An apple tree in the fall, drawn by Ivan Smith-Garcia when he was 6.

Make four pictures of the same tree through the seasons. Start with a drawing of the bare branches. Then cover the branches with snow for a wintertime picture. Draw the same tree trunk and branches again, and cover them with pretty blossoms for springtime. Draw the trunk and branches with thick green leaves for summerime, and a last picture with gold and orange fall leaves.

To make your task easier, just start with the first wintertime bare branches drawing and photocopy it onto four sheets of heavy white paper.

For more unusual and creative art projects with drawing, see the book Drawing With Children in the KidsArt On-Line Catalog.

Night Sky Chalk Drawing

Colored pastel chalks are wonderful on many different kinds of paper - textured charcoal paper, the inside of brown grocery bags, colored construction paper.  Kids will enjoy drawing “Night Sky” pictures on black construction paper.  The lighter colored pastel chalks look wonderful on the dark background.

A highway stretches off across the desert in this night sky drawing.

Materials: Pastel chalks in assorted colors, black construction paper.

Time: 20-30 minutses.

Handy hint: To keep the dusty chalk from rubbing off the finished picture, an adult can take the picture outdoors and spray on a light coat of regular hairspray.

KidsArt Resource: A set of Pastel Chalks is a great investment for childhood art projects.