Learn how to create a self portrait collage with simple recycle bin materials. A fun and educational activity for kids that helps them explore self identity.
Updated June 2025
Self portraits are a fun and engaging art activity for kids that require very little setup and hardly any materials. We created ours using only recycled cardboard—think cereal boxes, shipping material, and scrap paper bags. Limiting the materials to brown cardboard challenged kids to focus on shape and texture rather than color, sparking creativity in unexpected ways.
This project invites children to study their faces closely—looking at their eyes, noses, mouths, and more. It naturally leads to conversations about how we all have similar features but still look different.
Self portrait projects like this one are perfect for a variety of ages and work well at home, in classrooms, or at art playdates. It’s low-cost, low-mess, and easy to adapt to whatever materials you already have. Plus, the results are always as unique as the artists themselves!
First set up the materials and a mirror nearby. Begin by drawing an oval face shape on a piece of brown paper or a paper bag. If the child is young, you may want to help them draw this shape. If you’d like an oval template you can use mine.
Cut out face shapes
Encourage your child to look at themselves in the mirror. – What do they see? – And what shapes can they see in their faces? – What shapes are their eyes and where are they located on the face?
Now encourage them to create a face out of cardboard. Older children can cut out some of their own facial shapes, while younger children may want to have some pre-cut shapes that they can glue on. For younger children, you can help them with placement.
Ideas for cutting portrait pieces: – Cut out circles, triangles, or lip shapes.
– Create eye shapes from cardboard tubes.
– Make curls and swirls by wrapping thin strips of paper around a pen.
– Or maybe make eyelashes using a toilet tube.
Arrange collage pieces into face shape
Once the pieces are cut out, the children are ready to add the facial features to the oval on the brown paper bag. It helps to lay out pieces before glueing them onto the paper.
Let dry.
If you try this with your child, I’d love to hear how your self portraits turn out!
Joanna Walker is the creator behind The Blue Barn which offers art experiences for children, and she teaches preschool art classes part-time. She's a mom to four children ages 13, 11, 9 & 7.
If you'd like to see more ideas from Joanna, you can check out her blog, Blue Barn Living. You can also follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Her favorite place to hang out online is Instagram for the positive, supportive community of each other's creativity– and there is SO much inspiration to be found.
