Activity Corner

Grade 5: Activity 1
Creating a Collage

Parents and caregivers! Try this simple activity at home with your child.

Look at Melinda Moore Lampkin's Feelin' Blue below. She created images by piecing together swatches of fabric or paper. We call this collage. Creating collages helps kids (and adults) to express themselves through their surroundings.

For this activity, help your child create a self-portrait by using old magazines or fabric.

Materials:
One photograph of your child
Glue and scissors
8½ x 11 inch piece of white paper
Old magazines, newspapers, or fabric

Steps:

1. Cut out the background of a photograph of your child so that just your child is left. Photocopy or scan the photograph if you do not want to cut it.
2. Glue this to a piece of paper.
3. Help your child cut out things from magazines and newspapers that express their likes and dislikes. For example, if there is a car they are excited about or an image of an animal they like, cut out everything but that car or animal. Also, cut out pieces of fabric for big areas, for example, the blue sky or green grass.
4. Begin to collage by gluing down a section at a time. Let it dry overnight.

Melinda Moore Lampkin Feelin' Blue, 1989 Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, Georgia