Collage Art for Kids

Explore Texture With Mixed Media Collage Portraits for Kids

February 8, 2025

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Explore texture with mixed media collage portraits for kids! Use cardboard as a base and create features with recycled collage materials. Project and post by Krista Simcoe of Riverside Art Studio.

Updated March 2025

These mixed media collage portraits are a great lesson in exploring portraiture and texture with kids.

This project was done with a group of 4 to 8-year-old students. We were exploring texture in my studio and I wanted to introduce the portrait genre to my students, so I thought, “Why not combine the two?”

First, we talked about portraits and how a portrait is a picture of a person. I referenced school pictures and selfies as a modern version of portraiture.

We also discussed the parts of the face: eyes, nose and mouth along with eyebrows, eyelashes, cheeks, ears, etc. I explained that the more details added to these portraits, the more character and individuality they will have.

But instead of drawing our portraits, we incorporated all of the texture exploration we’d been doing and created these mixed media portraits using collage materials. This is a great project to use recycled materials, too, so feel free to dig through the recycle bin!

Mixed Media Collage Portraits for Kids

MATERIALS

Cardboard
Collage materials: pom poms, feathers, yarn, cut up straws, lace, fabric scraps, wooden shapes, toothpicks, cardboard shapes, and more
Glue
Oil pastels / markers

INSTRUCTIONS

Cut out cardboard shapes
Start with a cardboard base of a square and a circle. I used some cardboard cake bases that I had leftover from another project, but you could easily use whatever cardboard you have lying around.
Cut out a square and paint with white acrylic paint for the base. Then cut out a circle and glue to the square as a starting point.
Gather materials with good texture
Think about the features you are trying to represent. A cut up straw and pom pom for the nose, buttons for the eyes, yarn for the mouth, cut up toothpicks for the eyelashes, lace for the hair, cardboard squares and rectangles for the neck and shoulders.

Put out some objects that are interesting and let the kids surprise you with their creativity. They don’t need a ton of instruction with this project, just a base to start with and a lot of fun materials to choose from.

You can use separate containers or a tinker tray (I like to use a utensil organizer) along with lots of glue.
Create your portrait!
Have kids create their portraits using the materials and glue. Usually I tell the kids a little dab will do it, but with these materials you need a big ol’ glob.

Press those materials into the glue for a few seconds so they stick and keep a damp towel out for wiping sticky fingers.
Add details and color
I put drawing supplies out last so the kids focus more on the texture supplies. These are just for finishing touches.
Let dry
These definitely need some time to dry so leave them out for at least an hour, but preferably overnight.

Then you want to give them the shake test: pick up the piece and give it a gentle shake up and down. Secure any pieces that might have fallen off with an extra dab of glue or use a hot glue gun if necessary. I have all my students do this before they take a collage home.