Art Journaling, Tissue Paper Tree Leaves

I’ve found that this combo of tissue paper and glue stick works really well to get delicate flat paper to lay flat, with a minimum amount of sticky fingers. I had a room full of kinders gluing tiny leaves and no one got frustrated, and all the trees looked lovely.1. Starting directly with a brown or black crayon, I walked the students through the “Y” method of drawing trees shown here. Once all the branches were drawn, they were to thicken the trunk and branches, making thinner as they got to the ends.2. I cut out batches of leaves from dark and light green and yellow tissue paper for my young kinder and 1st graders, and older could freehand cut their own. Note: it’s much easier to cut in layers than not.Students worked with glue sticks by rubbing very generous areas of their tree, placing leaves on top, and then carefully rubbing with glue again to really adhere it to the journal page.3. Grass and other art may be colored around the tree.