Kyra Teis
Imagining Stories
School Visits
Collage Art Activities
Classroom Ideas for Grades K -
Teachers are no strangers to using collage in the classroom. Almost every school I visit proudly displays the collage artwork of its students in hallways and on bulletin boards.
Here are a few ideas to enhance your teaching:
Famous Artists
Who Used Collage:
Robert Courtright
Children's Book Artists
Who Use(d) Collage:
Holly Meade
Classroom Activities
Nature: Take a nature walk through the school playground and collect leaves, pebbles, bark, sand, petals, etc. Glue these items onto sturdy paper. For a more advanced project, use plain white or colored paper and make rubbings of different outdoor textures (bark, sidewalk, brick, etc.), then cut or tear the papers and glue into compositions.
Recycling: Invite students to gather items from home that would ordinarily be thrown
away such as wrappers, plastic, Styrofoam, newspaper, magazines, and junk mail. Students
can make up their own compositions, or design scenes that reflect the idea of "re-
Nutrition: Bring in healthy dry snacks such as low-
Halloween Candy Fun: Use hard candy, jelly beans, chocolate with a candy coating, and skittles to make spooky scenes. Alternate activity: have students save candy wrappers after Halloween and use them to make art. Be sure to have extras on hand for students who don't celebrate halloween.
Torn Paper: Tear paper of all different colors to make abstract compositions. For a more advanced activity, students can decorate the papers (blotting, coloring, rubbing, stamping, etc.) before gluing into their designs. Textures: Ask students to bring in scraps from home for a collage grab bag with ribbon, rug scraps, fabric, plastic, sand paper, buttons, wood, rubber bands, etc.
Print Media: Make pictures and notes to each other using pictures, words and letters cut from magazines, newspapers, junk mail, etc.
Photo Montage: Do portraits of family members, classmates, role models, or famous people, using family photos or ones cut from magazines. Combine these photos with other materials that represent the person (ex: fabric for a quilter, bark and leaves for a naturalist, hair bows and lace for someone who likes to dress up).
Artistic Expression: Study the work of a collage artist (listed above) and copy his or her style using collage. Pay attention to shapes, colors, textures, or any other artistic element that is distinctive about that artist's work. Note: you can do this exercise in the study of any artist, not just one who uses collage.
Cultural Exchange: Look at art from around the world (Australian Aboriginal rock paintings, African masks, South East Asian puppets, etc.), and the Americas (Inuit masks, Iroquois beading, Navajo sandpainting, Aztec sculpture, etc.), and replicate shapes, designs, and colors in collage.
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