Child Collage Ideas

Snipping, Ripping and Pasting

If you are looking for collage ideas for a young child, you might like to start small and gradually build your way up to more complicated projects.

There are several skills which your child will need to gradually progress through before he can undertake a collage project unassisted.

The first is snipping, the second dropping and finally pasting. By the time your child is 4 or 5 years old he should have progressed right through the stages and can combine these skills for different craft and collage ideas.

Snipping
Scissors are quite difficult tools for toddlers to use. They require your toddler to both hold a piece of paper as well as manage a pair of scissors.
Firstly provide thin strips of paper that she can 'snip' across in a single cut. Gradually widen the strips so they require several 'snips' across. You can then teach her how to tear strips of newspaper. To begin with just ripping along lines you have drawn, gradually getting more complex, ripping around headlines and boxes. Now you can combine the two skills- get her to cut along lines, around corners and eventually around complete shapes.

**TIP- This process may sound simple and straighforward but will require patience and probably a good amount of demonstrating on your part. Make it fun for her with every attempt being a step in the right direction.

Dropping
'Dropping' is the term used for a variety of collage materials which can be attached with glue. Lighter dropping materials include- sand, paper, glitter, seeds, coffee, rice, egg shells and various found materials like petals, autumn leaves. Heavier dropping materials include- noodles, split peas and lentils. Heavier drops will require PVA glue and you will need to let the piece dry before shaking off the excess. Lighter drops can use flour paste (see below).

**Flour paste- a handful of flour, pinch of salt, add water slowly, stirring constantly. When it's gooey it's ready to use. Can be stored in the fridge in a jar.

You can use a drawn image to drop onto or make patterns out of different materials. For younger children, allow them to apply the paste all over and then use a plate to cover different areas (the areas you want to protect!) as you do drops.

Pasting
Once your child has had some experience with cut and paste style activities you can provide them with their own glue stick or small pot of glue. Initially they will want to cover the whole page, the greatest skill is in learning how much glue is enough which requires your ongoing encouragement and assistance.

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