Fall watercolour leaf art

Yesterday, as often happens on the weekend, we had M's bff and her stepmother (my friend) over to play and do arts and crafts. I've been itching to play with watercolours lately, so I dug out some paper that was up to the task. I then printed this art lesson and the accompanying template (right onto the watercolour paper), and we got going. We had both watercolour pencils and watercolour paints to play with.

We did sprinkle Epsom salt on some backgrounds while they were wet just because we wanted to see what happened.

Some of us sprinkled quite a lot and rubbed it in with our hands.

 And a couple of us outlined the veins on the leaves with gold pens.

What I love most about doing art with children is that no two finished projects ever look the same. It sometimes takes a little while for some to become confident enough to splash out with their own ideas instead of looking to see what others are doing, but the end results speak for themselves! I love watching them explore.

All the kids were so happy with their art this time that I got dollar store frames to frame their masterpieces. D's was taken up to his nightstand immediately so that he could enjoy it some more. M's went up to her room later that evening.

 D's masterpiece, above - proof that great art isn't only for older kids!

 We decided that M's, above, looked just like the forest at the end of our street where we've been crunching leaves underfoot.

 Even my husband joined in this time, playing with the watercolour pencils above.

What have you tried in watercolour?