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Chalkola · Tutorial
How to Draw a Four Seasons Tree Using Washable Dot Markers
Updated Jul 2026
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Drawing a four-seasons tree uses one shared trunk silhouette across four panels and changes only the canopy: spring (pink + green), summer (full green), autumn (orange/red/yellow + falling leaves), and winter (bare branches + snow). Use washable dot markers for ages 4-8 (mess-free, washes off skin and fabric) or paint markers for ages 8+. Total project time: 15-30 minutes per tree.
BEST FOR THE 4-SEASONS PROJECT — 8 COLOURS
Chalkola 8 Washable Dot Markers for Toddlers | with 20 Page Coloring Activity Book Kit, Bingo Daubers | Preschool Paint Dot Art Set
★★★★★4.5 · 3,307 verified reviews
$16.95 USD · free shipping
Dot Markers for Toddlers 3-4 years — Inspire hours of creativity filled fun with kids dot marker. The dot painting markers comes with 8 washable stamp markers in sparkly, vibrant colors
20 Activity Sheets — These dot paint markers for kids include 200+ bonus PDF pages plus FREE physical activity book which includes 10 learning sheets, 5 3D paper toys, and 5 fold-out sheets.
Easy Clean Formula — Water-based ink washes off easily from hands and clothes, making these Toddler Markers mess-free and non-toxic. Do dot markers safe for daily creative play with quick-drying formula
Pro Bingo Markers for Kids — Create perfect dots with these bingo dabbers and dotters. Quick-drying washable ink prevents bleeding, making every stamping session fun
We just love how leaves change color with the seasons. From the cool hues of winter to the bright shades of summer, it’s always an incredible thing to see Mother Nature work her colorful magic on the foliage around us. Since we’ve been staying indoors, now’s a great time to recreate these seasonal changes right at home by drawing a ‘four seasons tree’ with the kids for an easy and fun art activity. There’s no need to wait for each season to turn when we can make it happen on paper using our brilliant washable markers!
The kids are going to love dotting, dabbing, and drawing with this delightful art project...tree-mendously! So round up the crew and let’s start this art-venture. Materials needed:
Let’s make winter, spring, summer, and fall happen in one go. Watch the video below and start changing up the seasons with our do-a-dot art markers!
Steps:
Lay out your materials. Using your pencil, sketch four outlines of a tree trunk with branches.
Once done, fill in the tree sketches with color using a brown acrylic paint pen. You can use a white or black acrylic marker to add details to your drawing.
Now’s the fun part–coloring the leaves using washable dot markers. The kids can start dabbing on each tree illustration with the colors they associate the most with the seasons: blue for winter; green and pink for spring; green for summer; and green, yellow, and orange for autumn!
Tip: Along with the 50-page workbook that comes with our washable dot markers, it’s always a good idea to create your own activity sheets, like this one, even if it’s just one or two sketches that the little ones can practice on. This encourages them to create from scratch and also provides them with more options to develop their art skills.
You can sketch outlines for a variety of tree shapes so the kids have more to color and work on. They can even do the drawings themselves! Aside from being vibrant, what’s so great about using these dot markers is that they’re washable, non-toxic, and odorless, so everyone can enjoy them without any mess or worries. If the ink gets on the kids’ hands, you can easily wash it off with soap and water. It’s really the best and easiest art supply for endless creativity.
If you’re looking for other easy and creative learning ideas that you can do at home with the kids, check out this simple guide on How to Draw a Solar System Using Chalk Markers, or go into the wild and try out this DIY Animal Cutouts with Dry Erase Markers. There’s always something new to do when you’ve got the right art tools by your side. We’d love to see what you’ve been creating with your Chalkola products, so please feel free to share by tagging us on Instagram at @chalkola and use the hashtag #ChalkolaArt for a chance to be spotted and featured! We hope you had an amazing time with this art activity featuring our washable dot markers. Stay tuned for more next week...and in the meantime, happy creating!
Step-by-step: drawing a four-seasons tree
The trick is to draw the same trunk silhouette four times, then change only the canopy treatment per season. Kids learn the silhouette by repeating it — and they finish all four trees in 60-90 minutes total.
Draw a brown trunk + branches in the centre of each panel. Keep it simple: thick trunk, 4-6 main branches, smaller twigs. Use a brown washable dot marker or a fine-tip washable marker.
Wait 30 seconds for the trunk to dry before adding canopy dots — wet-on-wet smudges.
Spring panel: green dots clustered around branches (canopy) + scattered pink dots (cherry blossoms). Add a few pink dots falling around the trunk too.
Summer panel: dense emerald-green dots covering all branch tips. Add a yellow sun-circle in the upper corner. Optional: small bird dots on a branch.
Autumn panel: orange + red + yellow dots in canopy. Now scatter the same warm colours BELOW the tree as falling leaves. This is the season's signature detail.
Winter panel: NO canopy dots. Only the bare branches. Add scattered white dots floating around the branches as snow. Pale blue background optional.
Display: tape all four panels in order on a wall, fridge, or kid's bedroom door — instant 4-panel seasonal art.
Best paper for washable dot-marker art
Thin printer paper buckles when dot markers wet it. Use one of these:
Heavyweight craft paper (140 gsm+): the top recommendation — holds dot-marker washes without warping.
Cardstock (200-300 gsm): firmest option, takes the most layers, perfect for hanging-on-wall display.
Watercolor paper (cold press 190+ gsm): great if you want to layer washes over the dots — the paper handles both.
Avoid: printer paper, newsprint, glossy magazine pages — they buckle, smear, or repel water-based ink.
4 seasonal variants
The four seasons — one tree, four canopies
Same trunk silhouette every time. Only the canopy changes. Below: spring pink-blossom, summer full-green, autumn warm-tones, winter bare-branch. Pick one or do all four side-by-side as a wall display.
Season 01 / 4 · Spring
Spring tree
Brown trunk, vibrant green dot canopy, pink cherry-blossom dots scattered. Use a fresh-green washable dot marker for the leaves; pink for the blossoms. 15 minutes.
Season 02 / 4 · Summer
Summer tree
Densest green canopy of the four seasons, plus a yellow sun in the corner. Use emerald and forest green dot markers for layered foliage. Add tiny darker dots for shadow.
Season 03 / 4 · Autumn
Autumn tree
Warm orange + red + yellow dots both in the canopy AND scattered below as falling leaves. The falling-leaves detail is what makes autumn unmistakable.
Season 04 / 4 · Winter
Winter tree
Bare branches, no canopy, only scattered white dot-marker snow dots floating around the silhouette. The most minimalist of the four — and the easiest for younger kids.
Why this project works for kids ages 4-10
Four-seasons-tree art teaches three skills at once without feeling like a lesson:
Pattern repetition: drawing the same silhouette four times builds confidence and steadies the hand.
Colour theory: kids notice that warm colours (orange/red/yellow) feel like autumn, while cool colours (white/blue) feel like winter — without anyone explaining it.
Storytelling: each tree tells a season's story. Kids can narrate "this is summer because…" once they finish.
Most importantly: the washable formula means kids can be exuberant. Spilled markers wipe off any non-porous surface. Stained shirts wash out in cold water before the ink cures.
Chalkola 16 Washable Dot Markers for Toddlers | w/ 50 Page Coloring Activity Book Kit, Bingo Daubers | Preschool Paint Dot Art Set
★★★★★4.5 · 3,307 verified reviews
$26.95 USD · free shipping
Washable — Truly washable water-based ink cleans completely from hands, clothes, and surfaces with soap and water - ideal for toddler activities and arts and crafts
Colors — 16 total colors featuring 8 bright shades and 8 shimmery tones offer unlimited creative possibilities for kids arts and crafts and art projects
Learning — Educational bundle includes 50-page printed activity book and 200+ downloadable PDF activities covering letters, numbers, and shapes for preschool learning
Safety — Non-toxic water-based formula safe for toddler art supplies and activities for kids ages 3+ features easy-grip handles perfect for small hands
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"Bought for our preschool seasons unit — every kid finished a four-seasons-tree poster from one box. Zero spills, zero crying. The 16 colours covered every season."
— Olivia T. · ★★★★★
What painters say about Chalkola
4.7★
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96%
Would recommend
Washable
Off skin + clothes when wet
★★★★★
"My 6-year-old made all four seasons in an afternoon. The dot markers wash right off the table, the floor, and her hands. We hung the four trees side-by-side as her bedroom wall art."
Maya R. · Verified Amazon buyer
★★★★★
"Used these for our preschool seasons unit — every kid finished a four-seasons-tree poster, no spilled paint, no tears. The water-based formula is the magic."
Jenna L. · Verified Amazon buyer
★★★★★
"My twins (4 + 7) both did this project. The 4yo loved the simple winter version, the 7yo went deep on the autumn falling leaves. One kit, two skill levels."
Olivia T. · Verified Amazon buyer
★★★★★
"The 28-pen palette is perfect for seasonal art — every shade you need for green canopies, autumn leaves, snow detail, and spring blossoms. Vibrant on craft paper."
Sketch a simple tree outline on paper, divide it into four quadrants for spring, summer, fall, and winter, then dot in each quadrant with season-appropriate colours: pink + green (spring), dark green (summer), red + orange + yellow (fall), white + light blue (winter). Works on any 8×10 page.
Standard construction paper, printer paper, or dot-marker activity sheets. Nothing thicker than 80 lb is needed because dot markers don't saturate the page like watercolour. Cardstock gives a sturdier finished piece for fridge display.
10–20 minutes per child depending on age. Setup (sketch tree, organize markers) is 5 minutes. The dotting itself is quick because each quadrant uses only 2–4 colours. Perfect for a single classroom session or a rainy-day indoor craft.
Ages 3–8. Preschoolers learn colour-season association and get fine-motor practice. Older kids 6–8 can add labels, months, and weather-related details. Great classroom lesson for calendar or nature-unit themes.
Yes — any parent can run this. Print a simple tree outline from any clipart source (or draw freehand), lay out the 4 seasonal marker groups in separate piles, and let the child work through each season. Discuss colours and seasons as they go.
Washable dot markers wipe off skin and most fabrics with soap and water, survive young artists' enthusiasm, and don't require brushes or water cups. They're safer than regular markers for toddlers because the broad tip can't be swallowed whole.
The winter tree (bare branches + scattered white snow dots) is the simplest of the four — no canopy to fill, just trunk and branches. Most 4-5yo's complete it in under 10 minutes. Once they nail winter, the other three seasons feel approachable.
Three quick tricks: (1) layer two shades of green for summer canopies (light + dark) so the canopy has depth; (2) add a small shadow line at the base of the trunk in dark grey; (3) make the canopy slightly oval (not perfectly round) — natural trees aren't symmetrical. These three additions take 30 seconds and instantly add depth.
Yes — but ONLY if you wash before the ink dries fully. Most washable kid markers have a 30-minute window before the ink sets in cotton fibres. Quick action: rinse the stain in cold water immediately, then wash in cold cycle with regular detergent. Don't put it in the dryer until the stain is fully gone — heat sets the dye permanently.
Paper only. Canvas is too absorbent for washable markers — the ink bleeds and looks muddy. For canvas projects, switch to acrylic paint markers (water-based but permanent on canvas).
Add seasonal variants! 'Cherry blossom spring' (Japanese-style), 'Halloween night' (orange tree silhouette + bat dots), 'Christmas-decorated' (winter bare tree + colored ornament dots), 'Tropical jungle' (palm leaves instead of broad canopy). The framework holds — just change the canopy treatment. The 16-pack opens up more colour variants without restocking.
Chalkola sells washable dot markers on Amazon in 4 pack sizes: 6-pack for toddlers ($14.95), 8-pack with activity book ($17.95), 16-pack for families and classrooms ($24.95), and a 50-pack bulk for teachers and summer camps ($59.95). All four are water-based, AP non-toxic, washable off skin and fabric. For one-time household projects the 8-pack is the sweet spot; for classroom or recurring use the 50-pack bulk is the best per-marker price.
