This is a good exercise for those small motor skills. I’ve found students have a lot of fun just losing themselves in their patterns.
1. Cardboard templates of leaves may help young artists get started, but drawing their own is always best. Students draw at least two of their favorite leaves, and then draw the veins inside. The veins should divide the leaf up into large sections.2. Sharpie markers are used to trace all the lines. Students fill all the areas with patterns, changing whenever they got to a new section.
3. When complete, the leaves are traced with what I call “energy lines” around the outside until the paper was filled. I emphasized throughout the project that nothing was to be filled in. I think it made the students think more. . . and made my markers last longer too.
