Autumn Tree Coloring Page

Fall is the best time to look up. This autumn tree coloring page shows a wide old tree with eight big round bunches of leaves, a rope swing hanging from one side, and a small hole in the trunk where an owl might live. Leaves drift through the air and gather on the ground below, and two clouds float past in the sky.

The big shapes make it an easy pick for ages 3 to 10. Expect about twenty minutes, and more if every leaf gets its own color.

Easy to start, slow to finish

Each bunch of leaves is a large circle. A preschooler can fill one with red, the next with orange and the next with yellow, and the tree will look good. There is no wrong way to do it.

Older kids can blend colors inside a circle. Start with yellow, then add orange at the bottom, then a touch of red. That small step makes the whole tree look more real.

Autumn tree coloring page color ideas

Mix warm colors across the top of the tree, and do not put two of the same side by side. The trunk can be a medium brown, with a dark brown knot in the middle where a small owl might sleep. Use a pale blue sky, since it makes the warm leaves stand out.

Look out the window for ideas. A maple tree may turn bright red, while a birch goes gold. Your child can copy a tree from your own street, which makes the page feel personal.

The ground can be tan, gold or green. Add the fallen leaves in the same colors as the tree, so they look like they just dropped from above. The swing seat looks nice in a dark wood color.

Three small tips

• Color from the top of the tree down so your hand stays clear of finished parts.
• Use short, curved strokes in the leaf bunches for a soft, bumpy look.
• Make the small falling leaves darker than the sky, or they will fade into it.

Why leaves change color

Leaves are green in summer because they are full of chlorophyll, which helps a tree make food from sunlight. As days get shorter and cooler, the tree stops making it. The green fades, and the yellow and orange that were hiding in the leaf can finally show. The Wikipedia article on autumn leaf color goes into more detail.

Red is a little different. Many trees make red color fresh in the fall, using sugar trapped in the leaf. Sunny days and cool nights tend to give the brightest reds. That is why some years look better than others, and why people drive for hours to see the hills.

Trees that drop their leaves are called deciduous trees. Losing leaves helps them save water through the winter, when the ground is frozen.

Bring the outdoors in

Take a walk and collect a few fallen leaves. Lay one under a sheet of thin paper and rub the side of a crayon over the top. The veins will appear as if by magic. Cut out your rubbing and glue it near the tree.

Kids can sort their leaves too. Put them in groups by color, size or shape, then count each group. It is an easy nature lesson that costs nothing. Press your favorite leaf inside a heavy book for a few days, and it will stay flat enough to keep.

Print four copies of this autumn tree coloring page to teach the seasons. Color one with green for summer, one with fall colors, one with bare branches and snow, and one with pink spring blossoms. Staple them together for a small book about the year.

More fall pages

You can find the rest on our fall coloring pages hub. The fall leaves coloring page looks closely at single leaves, and the apple tree coloring page gives you another tree to fill.

Questions