I wanted to do a couple fun fall crafts with my kids (2y & 4y). They got put off until this week with me making their Halloween costumes. I settled on two fun but very simple leaf shape based crafts. And while we made our fall crafts we watched the snow fall covering all the leaves on the ground. But, I guess it is better late than never to make fall leaf crafts. For the first one, I ran across how to make DIY scratch art paper from PBS Utah. So, I added a fall twist and made some leaf shaped scratch art paper for my kids.
Scratch art paper is a lot of fun. I remember drawing on it when I was a kid and you can still find it everywhere today. I have never made it myself though. So, I had a lot of fun making it and my kids had a lot of fun drawing on it. It was so easy to make that I will definitely be making more. My four year old daughter informed me that when I make more they need to be either leaf or princess shaped. What did I get myself into?
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How to Make DIY Scratch Art Paper
Materials:
Making the Leaves:
First, cut your cardstock into leaf shapes. Obviously, you can cut them into any other shape instead. I used my Brother Scan and Cut to easily cut out my leaf shapes using a free leaf SVG from Free SVG Designs. You can also print out the PNG version from the same site and trace and cut them out with scissors. There is definitely no reason to buy a whole new expensive tool just to make scratch art paper. But, if you were already considering one, the ease of this may be your tipping point. Or these other fun crafts that were made simpler with it.
Coloring the Leaves:
Next, color your leaves with crayons. You can color any design or color scheme you want, just make sure the entire paper is covered well. I meant to make mine fall colors to match the leaf theme. But, as you can tell by my pictures, I forgot and did rainbow colors instead.
Turning the Leaves into Scratch Art Paper:
Then, paint over your colored leaves with an equal mixture of black paint and dish soap with a foam brush. I really enjoyed this step. Something about the texture of the soap paint was really therapeutic to paint with. My four year old on the other hand hated this step. She was very distraught that I was coloring over my pretty rainbows with a boring color like black.
Playing With Your DIY Scratch Art:
Once the paint dries, it is time to draw on your DIY scratch art paper. Use a wooden scratch art stick, or cut the end off a wooden skewer with wire snips.
Conclusion of Our DIY Scratch Art Paper
This craft was an all around hit. It was so easy to make and my kids loved drawing on it. Next time, I will probably let them help make it and make a few different shapes. Maybe some snowflakes to reflect the actual current weather. What shapes did you make?
Check out more fun fall crafts here. And here are some more simple crafts that keep kiddos busy.
