This Fall Leaf Absorption Art Doubles as a Colorful Science Experiment

Who doesn't love the beautiful colors of fall? 

It is simply amazing how all those beautiful leaves turn red and gold; you can learn why that happens with this simple experiment.

But you can also create absorption art to mimic the colors of the turning leaves. 

To celebrate the beauty of fall we made some fun Fall Leaf Absorption Art! 

This was a technique I had been wanting to try for a while, and the girls loved it! 

Supplies for Fall Leaf Absorption Art

• Heavy Construction Paper
• White School Glue
• Salt
• Food Coloring
• Paint Brushes

How to Make Your Own Absorption Art

To start your fall leaves, you need to draw some leaf shapes onto construction paper, or if you are brave you can move straight to drawing them on with glue. If you draw in pencil first, use the glue to outline your leaves. 

Now, you should have leaf shaped glue. Take your salt and pour it over the glue to cover. 

Now let the glue dry completely. It may be easiest to leave it over night to be sure it is dry.

Once you are sure the glue is dry, shake off the excess salt, and once again you should have leaf shapes. 

 
Now, it is time to prepare your paint. There is no exact recipe for the paint, just mix some liquid food coloring in a small amount of water. The more food coloring you add, the more brilliant the color. 

We just used red, yellow, and green. I suppose you could use the blue food coloring too, but I haven't seen a lot of blue leaves. 

Time to paint your fall leaves! This is the best part and so easy. Dip your brush in your food coloring solution like normal paint and just touch it to the salt where you want to add the color. The salt will suck up that liquid and cause it to take on the color!

Watching the salt absorb the color is almost magical. You will also notice when you change colors the areas of salt between the colors will blend a bit. 

We used a separate paintbrush for each color just so we didn't have to have another cup of water for rinsing. 

Continue painting until all the salt is colored!

After allowing the leaves to dry for a while, you will have some lovely fall decorations to hang up. You could cut them out to make a banner or hang them on the wall. The salt gives them a fun texture and a little sparkle too.