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Mixed Media Collage for Kids

by Meri Cherry
January 2, 2025
mixed media collage

Kids love mixed media collage art projects and this one, by Meri Cherry, with printed pictures and fun collage items is fun for all ages.

Updated February 2025

Collage work is one of my very favorite art activities to do with kids of all ages. A collage is a composition of work created from various materials. It’s a fantastic process art project, with pretty much guaranteed success for everyone.

We worked on canvas for our collage, but you can easily use a piece of recycled cardboard. You could also use any durable piece of paper or even a cut-up shopping bag.

These collages combine photographs of the kids making the art, scrap paper, buttons and beads, and pretty much anything else you think your kids might like to add to their artwork. Anything goes!

Mixed Media Collage for Kids

MATERIALS

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Paint your canvas or cardboard

    We LOVE to mix our own paints. You can read an easy step by step tutorial on how to mix paints with kids here. Any tempera paints will work great.

    Encourage your child to paint the entire background. For little kids who need a little extra push to spend more than a few seconds painting you might say something like this after their first go at it: “Wow, I see you added some colors. Now I have a challenge for you. I wonder if you can cover all the white spots. That’s a big challenge.”

    Or for older children you can say something like “What’s your plan for the background? Artists often have a plan. I am curious about your painting plan.” Then you can talk about what areas your child is going to cover and what colors he or she is going to use.

    painting canvas

  2. Add collage items

    Here’s where I talk about a plan as well. I demonstrate different ideas, like a border with buttons, or patterns with the paper cutouts, or outlining a picture.

    I think it’s important to slow kids down at this point and give some purpose to their art, rather than creating a big mess. The kids here were only three, but we still talked about artists having plans and their own plans.

    We started with the pictures and then added all the other materials. This can be done in several sessions, depending on your child and their interest level.

    *Note: If the paint is thick on the canvas it can act as glue. If it’s just a thin layer you will need to use glue. I recommend using either a squeeze bottle (kids love to squeeze) or putting some glue in a dish and giving your child a paintbrush to adhere the materials to the canvas.

    mixed media collage-2

  3. Coat the finished product

    When everything is glued on and dried an adult can go over the entire canvas with mod podge or a glue mixture of one part water and two parts white glue. This will help everything stay secure on the canvas.

That’s it! Your mixed media collage is done.

Did you know that Pablo Picasso is often considered the inventor of collage? You can see one of his works here, where Picasso used a rope to frame his work and an oil cloth to paint on.

I hope you have as much fun making these collages as we did!

More Collage Art for Kids

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Mixed Media Collage for Kids

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