Research has shown that arts-based approaches facilitate literacy learning in children; however, few studies have focused on the integration of art and early writing in community-based Chinese heritage language classes, which have been marginalized from the formal educational discourse in the United States. By drawing on the theoretical perspectives on social semiotics, this paper explored how young Chinese heritage learners engage in "writing" Chinese characters using fallen leaves. The data sources included field notes of observations, video recordings of the class, and the artifacts made by the children. Multimodal analysis revealed that the teacher invited the students to write together and created a social context for children to compose writing artwork. Children engaged with their composition through a variety of modes. This study has implications for research, practice, and policy.