How to Create Collage Art for Kids

Time needed: 45 minutes

INSTRUCTIONS
Note: This is a two part project.

1. Treasure hunt for colors

   Start your time by taking a look at photos of Alma Thomas’ work to get inspired! We discuss the patterns and colors seen in the images.
   
   Then, go on a treasure hunt to find colorful objects from around the house! Once you have some items, you can identify the colors of each object and group them into warm colors (red, orange and yellow) or cool colors (blue, some purple and some green).

2. Identify warm colors in art materials

   Next, kids can look through their art materials and identify the pencils, crayons, markers and paints that have warm color tones.
   
   

3. Color paper with warm and cool colors

   Once you have all of your warm toned art materials, you will cover a sheet of paper in warm colors.
   
   Begin by coloring with lines and patterns, then fill in the negative spaces with paint. Discuss different types of marks that different art materials make.
   
   You can use any art materials that you have at home, and it’s also a great opportunity to explore new materials to see what they can do.
   
   
   
   It’s fun to stop once in a while and point out interesting things in each other’s artwork. This helps to build community and confidence among children, siblings, etc.
   
   Once your paper is covered in warm colors, it’s time to do the same with cool colors on a separate piece of paper.
   
   You will end up with one paper filled with warm tones and a second with cool tones. This is a good stopping point if you’d like to come back to this project later.
   
   

4. Create your collage!

   To make a collage, you need to cut your warm and cool papers first into strips, and then into smaller shapes.
   
   Use a combination of the warm and cool papers to create a collage inspired by Alma Thomas. It’s useful to take another look at Alma’s work at this point for extra inspiration!