Mess Free Autumn Tree Craft

Do you ever feel like doing some crafts with the kids but you just can’t face the thought of them covering your house in paint? Me too and that’s exactly why I cam up with this mess free autumn tree craft. I try to be pretty chill about these things but after that time I let my two year old go wild with the black paint and then remembered we’d had a new bathroom fitted that week? Well, I’m a little bit more wary now! This autumn tree craft is perfect for younger kids or when you want to do something a little less messy with your children.

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Materials

Ziploc bags* (sandwich / freezer bags)

Black pen – I use this one which is pretty awesome for everything in my life*

Kids paints* in yellow, red, orange and green

Optional – tape*

Autumn Tree Craft

This craft was inspired by one of the crafts in my book 30 Halloween Crafts for Kids* – we enjoyed it so much we made a few changes to make a fun autumn tree craft instead!

It’s also similar to our mess free pumpkin craft that has a little video tutorial with it so I’ve added the video for that post to this page so you can check it out, I know that sometimes I prefer to see things visually so I can get a proper idea of them. Of course, you’ll still find the written instructions below too.

First draw the outline onto your bag using a black marker.

Then carefully add some splodges of paint – my son has been making me add green on his (completely fair!) pointing that there’s still some green on the trees here!

Close your bag and double check it’s properly sealed, especially if you are giving this to kids to play with. You can also add some tape over the closing of your bag if you would prefer for this reason.

Have fun squishing the paint as you colour in the tree – one of the great things about this craft is that instead of it being a problem if the paint turns brown it’s actually a great excuse to talk about the changing colours of the leaves and learn a bit about colour mixing too!

You can also use this activity as a way of practicing mark making. Once you’ve squished your paint around try drawing lines or circles onto your tree with your finger. Or how about the first letter of your name?

More easy autumn tree crafts for kids

Have you tried bleeding tissue paper? Grab our free tree template and try out this bleeding tissue paper craft to colour in your autumn tree with coloured leaves.

This paper plate autumn tree craft is simple to make and cutting the tissue paper could be a great way to practice scissor skills too.