This Cotton Ball Autumn Tree craft is a fun one for sure. Kids love using droppers (mine definitely do!) and for this craft their coloring in the cotton ball tree using droppers!
Prep is super quick and I’m using lots of materials that you probably already have at home, like glue, paper rolls and cotton balls. I’ve prepped this cotton ball tree in under five minutes and let it dry a bit. Made the watered down paint and set everything up for the kids to use.
Kiddos stays happy and busy using the droppers to fill them with paint and releasing them over the cotton balls, watching the colors mix to create a beautiful Autumn Tree.
This craft is a good one! 🙂
RELATED: Cotton Ball American Flag Craft


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Materials For Cotton Ball Autumn Tree:
- Cotton balls
- Cardstock (white or light blue work great)
- Washable kids paint
- Droppers
- Paper roll
- Glue
- Kids craft aprons
- Cups with water
Instructions:
- Glue the paper roll onto the cardstock placing the cardstock horizontally.
- Next, glue the cotton balls at the top of the paper roll tree trunk to create a tree. Glue as many cotton balls as you can fit. Let dry.
- While the cotton ball tree is drying add washable kids paint to the cups with water and mix to combine to make several watered down paint colors (we kept the colors Fall themed, yellow, orange, green, red)
Simply let the kids fill the dropper with the watery paint and release onto the cotton balls. The paint will soak into the cotton ball, spreading a bit and mix with other colors creating a beautiful Fall tree!
What is my child learning and improving?
- Creativity (choosing the colors, creating something unique out of paper rolls)
- Fine motor skills (pressing the dropper to fill with paint, release the dropper working on finger strength)
- Independency (this activity is great to prep for your child and watch him/her work on their own, assisting as needed. This is a fairly easy craft so even toddlers can get a hang of it)
TIP- take the opportunity to talk to your child about the colors of the leaves, what color are they using, what’s their favorite Fall colors, etc. I love keeping up some conversation even while I’m washing the dishes and kids are crafting away at the kitchen table. It’s either that or classical music, haha 🙂
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