Making Collages with your Kids



	Children can start making collages ( gluing shapes to paper, felt, wood etc.) as soon as they can put glue on a cutout. At first you will cut out shapes for your child and show him how to arrange them on a piece of paper. Once he is about four, you can start letting him cut out shapes on his own using special kids’ scissors. Usually children who go to daycare learn this skill there because they do a lot of "gluing" projects at day cares and preschools.


	2-3 years old. Your child can start learning how to arrange shapes using a simple magnetic board with different letters using them like brightly colored shapes. Tell him what colors are they (you should definitely mention what letters they are). At first help your child to arrange shapes on a piece of paper and then glue them yourself. Try to teach him how to do it himself.
	Few ideas of simple projects:
		1. For St. Patrick Day. Pot of Gold. Draw the shape of a pot. Cut out a few "gold" coins or any other shapes from a yellow construction paper. Let your child put (glue) the coins into the pot.

		2. For St. Patrick Day. Shamrock From some green construction paper cut out the leaves of a clover. Let a child put (glue) a few leaves together. You can even make a card out of it. (print out)
		3. Mushrooms Cut out a few mushroom legs and cups (print out). Let your child put (glue) them together.

		4. Balloons Draw (print out) a boy holding a few strings in his hand. Cut out a few balloons of different colors. A child can put (glue) balloons onto their strings.


	3-4 years old At this age children are usually able to use a glue stick on their own, but you can still help them with arranging shapes on a paper. Closer to 4 years old some kids can already cut paper with safety scissors under adult supervision.
		1.Know your fruits and veggies. Cut out some shapes of apples, tomatoes, carrots, lemons etc (print out) . Talk about their colors and shapes. Let your child glue them to a paper plate.
		2. Night sky Cut out some stars and a moon from a yellow construction paper. Let a child arrange them nicely on a piece of dark blue paper. Then he can glue them to the paper.
		3. Paper place mat. Cut out many strips of paper (the length of a regular paper sheet) of different colors. Let the child arrange them on a piece of paper and then glue them to it.
		4. Guess what it is. Cut out a few different simple shapes out of a piece of construction paper of the same color. Suggest that your child put them together and make something familiar. Then glue them to the paper.
		5. Forest Make a simple drawing of a few trees or print one out. Cut out a few animal shapes and a couple of fish ( print out ). Talk with your child about the animals that live in the forest. Suggest he pick out the shapes the animals who live in the forest on the cut out. Then let him glue them to the paper with the forest on it.
		6. Who lives in the Ocean. Draw or print out a few silhouettes of various sea creatures. Talk to your child about who lives in the ocean. Let him cut out the shapes and glue them to a blue piece of paper.

		7. Saguaro cactus. What you’ll need: 1 blue sheet of construction paper (or white sheet of paper colored with a thin coat of blue color) for the sky background, a green saguaro shape (a parent can cut it out from here), a brown mountain shape, a strip of yellow sand (you can let your child cut them, they are easy) and a round yellow sun. Then let your child glue the mountains first, then the sand, then the cactus and the sun. Then your child can draw some needles on the cactus and a brown bird sitting on it with a brown or dark green crayon.

		8. Pumpkins. Trace a printed out pumpkin shape onto a sheet of orange construction paper. On a blue or brown or other dark sheet of paper, draw a few triangles (the pumpkin's eyes and nose) and a mouth. Let your child cut all of these pieces out and glue them to the orange pumpkin. You can also cut out an orange pumpkin yourself and let your child to draw the pumpkin's face.
		The "Tear, crumple, and glue" Projects 9. The Sun (click image for detailed instructions).
		10. Caterpillar (click image for detailed instructions).
		11. Sail Boat (click image for detailed instructions).
		12. 3D Flowers (click image for detailed instructions).
		13. Spaceships (click image for detailed instructions).
		14. Flower in Grass (click image for detailed instructions).


	4-5 years old. Children are now able to cut simple shapes on their own but it helps when you outline those shapes on the paper. Teach them that they can cut out several identical shapes at once by folding a sheet of paper over a few times. In addition to paper you can start using fabric.
		1. Place Mats. Cut out a piece of felt the size of a place mat. You can use some other thick fabric (like a piece of an old shower curtain) or a disposable plastic table cover. From small pieces of fabric of any colors (use old kids’ clothing and the like) kids can cut out various shapes, arrange them on the mat and then glue them to it.

		2. Mothers Day card. Pop out flower. Bend a sheet of white or colored paper in the middle. A child can draw a stem with a crayon or marker. Cut out the center of the flower and petals. Bend the petals in the middle. Glue only one half of each petal to another sheet of paper in a circle.
		3. Yellow School Bus. On a yellow piece of paper draw the shape (print out) of a school bus. An adult can help cutting out windows. Then a child can cut out a bus shape and 2 wheels from a piece of dark paper. Glue the bus and wheels to the paper and then draw children in the bus’s windows.


		4. Easter Basket. Draw (print out) a basket. Cut or help your child cut some egg shapes out of construction paper. Let him “fill” a basket with colorful eggs.
		5. A Dump Truck. Draw or print out pieces of a dump truck. Let your child cut them out and glue them onto a piece of paper. Suggest that he draw a truck driver in the window.
		6. Saguaro Cactus. Look at the “Saguaro Cactus” project for 3-4 year old kids. Older children can do the cutting and the gluing themselves.
		7. Tear, crumple,and glue art project "Imagination Collage" (click image for detailed instructions).
		7. Tear, crumple,and glue art project "Vase with flowers" (click image for detailed instructions).

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