How to Make a Handmade Collage

Using a variety of materials helps make collages unique and intriguing.

Kid's crafts come in an assortment of styles, concepts and mediums. One way to combine various images, materials and themes is through creating a collage. In the simplest form, a collage is a grouping of pictures, shapes, items and objects -- arranged to form a piece of art. Children can easily make collages when all the primary components are ready to use and organized within easy reach.

Things You'll Need

• Empty shoe boxes or plastic containers
• Construction paper
• Scissors
• Glue sticks
• Poster board
• Crayons, markers, colored pencils
• Multipurpose glue
• Rhinestones and glitter
• Pictures
• Magazines

Instructions

1. Set up a large table as the staging area for your collage supplies. Make sure the table is big enough for all the items, with ample room for kids to walk around it while gathering their supplies.

2. Stack sheets of poster board, in various colors, in the center of the table. These are used as the basis for the collages, and each child will take one piece to build his on.

3. Arrange shoe boxes or plastic containers around the perimeter of the table. Have enough containers available so that each item, material or crafting supply has its own box. This makes it easier for kids to gather all materials needed to create a collage in just one trip to the table.

4. Fill each container with enough of one type of material or supply for everyone making collages. Include scissors, glue sticks, loose glitter, invisible tape, markers, crayons, colored pencils and stencils in the collage building boxes.

5. Place a pile of photographs in one of the containers. Instruct everyone to cut and arrange portions of pictures to suit the collage they're creating. For example, if depicting a family tree, have the child draw the outline of a tree on the poster board and arrange cutout pictures along the branches.

6. Place scraps of paper in a separate container, for use as filler. This is a good way to fill in empty spaces on the poster board -- adding more color, depth and texture to the collage. Place used magazines in another container for the same purpose, as pictures and pages can be cut to fit -- for extra pops of color.

Tips & Warnings

• Handmade collages are the traditional approach to this form of art, compared to computer-generated ones.

• Supervise small children while using scissors.

References

• Eduart 4 Kids: Collage Ideas
• Wondershare: Photo Collage Ideas
• Day for Mothers: Make a Collage