Fall Apple Still Life Art Lesson | Collage, Texture & Painted Paper Art Lesson

Bring texture, color mixing, and still life together in this engaging 3-day elementary art lesson! 

Students begin by creating a textured background, then make their own painted paper using layered color combinations. Once the papers are dry, they transform them into apples using simple drawing guides, oil pastel highlights and shadows, and blending techniques before bringing everything together into a finished still-life collage.

One of my favorite parts of this lesson is that students don’t need everything to go perfectly. Unexpected oil pastel marks can become shadows, painted papers can be shared between classes, and each student’s final composition can look completely different.

This 12-page PDF includes:

• Still life and art history connections
• Look, Think, Wonder activity
• Materials list
• Lesson objectives and standards
• 3-day lesson breakdown
• Step-by-step instructions with process photos
• Painted-paper color combinations
• Teacher tips and classroom-tested notes
• Oil pastel drawing, blending, highlight + shadow techniques
• Optional plate/bowl extension
• Student artwork examples

Designed from a lesson taught with first grade, but easily adaptable for other elementary grades.

Digital download. For individual classroom use.