1st Grade Fall Art- featuring the Leaf Thief!

🍂 Leaf Thief Inspired Squirrel Collages — 1st Grade Art!

This week in 1st grade, we read the adorable fall story The Leaf Thief by Alice Hemming, 

where a curious squirrel tries to figure out who’s “stealing” the leaves from the trees. The students loved the humor in the story and had so much fun spotting clues along with the squirrel!

After reading, we created our own squirrel collage artwork inspired by the book.

Students used several art techniques:

1. Drawing & Painting:
   They drew a squirrel, then used tempera paint to give it texture and life.

2. Cut Paper Collage:
   Students cut out leaves and grass and arranged them around the squirrel to show motion — just like leaves falling in the story.

3. Details & Expression:
   We added leaf veins with oil pastels and outlined the squirrel to make it stand out against the background.

We also discussed warm colors (reds, oranges, yellows) and how these show up in fall leaves. Students noticed how overlapping shapes creates a feeling of depth — like the squirrel is hiding in a pile of leaves!

Each artwork turned out full of personality and fall energy. 🍁
Our little artists are now officially leaf detectives, just like the squirrel!