An Autumn Collage

Nothing Earth shattering here. No new groundbreaking idea. Just my boy, some contact paper and a beautiful fall day.

Leaves, petals, grass...some tissue paper found its way out here too.

He is enjoying the light shining through.

Yes, he is kissing his creation.

And hugging it... (his cuteness is unreal:))

We hung it on the garage door to brighten the view once those leaves are all gone!

This was actually done a few weeks ago and it is a good thing it was. Things are not so green anymore, most of our leaves are gone. The marigolds have withered and our days to play outside without mittens and hats are numbered. Brrr. The thought just gave me a chill.

Blue

A single color collage is a great activity for young children, especially if they have expressed an interest in colors. My little guy is almost two and a half and he has been really into naming colors lately. There is nothing to this--just a bunch of blue "things" and some blue paint and glue. You can let your child decide what color to use. You could even go on a little treasure hunt to search for blue or yellow etc. items. I should mention that this particular project with my little guy lasted only about 10 minutes. I also sat with him and helped. Some little ones will spend more time, some less. I think it is important not to pressure them to spend more time. It has to be fun!

Post It Notes Collage

This is a great idea for a temporary collage for toddlers to create. This idea comes from Young at Art by Susan Striker--a wonderful book for creating art with young children. My little man loved peeling off the little sticky notes and arranging them on the furniture. The dog even ended up with a few.

Big sister could not resist joining in....

Contact Paper Creations

In my last post I shared our leaf place mats. I thought it would make sense to share a few of the other items we have created with clear contact paper. As I said in my last post, I think this is a great medium for toddlers and preschoolers. Here we made a round "stained glass" rose window or sun catcher using contact paper, tissue paper, thin ribbon and stickers. Feel free to be as creative as you wish, any 2-dimensional materials will work. I do try to avoid picture stickers and stick to geometric shapes for design quality and because I want the final outcome to belong to my child, not Disney or another designer.
1. Cut 2 pieces of contact paper the same size and set one aside. Tape the non sticky side to your work space and carefully peel off the paper backing. Now the sticky side is up and ready to decorate. 2. You can pre-cut the paper and ribbon, or give your child the scissors and let them start cutting. I have found that most little ones really enjoy the cutting. Show your child how to place the paper, ribbon etc. on the sticky paper.

3. When the design is complete (keep in mind, the younger the child, the more minimalistic the design may be) you are ready to stick the top sheet of contact paper to the design. You will be sticking the sticky sides together. Start by peeling back a small portion of the paper (don't peel it all off at once) and carefully line it up with the artwork on your workspace. Peel the paper backing off as you press the top sheet onto the artwork.

4. Smooth out any little wrinkles and trim around the edges.

5. Hang in the window and enjoy!

As with all art, the variations are endless. You can turn this into a great art history lesson about rose windows in Gothic cathedrals or stained glass windows in general, symmetry, color, etc. You can also use the same process to make different things. We made Valentine's Day place mats in February using the little photo sheets that come with an order of prints. We recently made bookmarks too.

Hope this works for you!

A Walk in the Woods = New Place Mats

We are now somewhat settled in our new home. We have been enjoying the beautiful weather as we explore our new surroundings. Yesterday we took a little walk along a little path at a picnic/ camping area in town. We went with the intention of simply taking a stroll, but before we knew it, we were collecting leaves and getting to know the native flora. Of course, we couldn't simply collect the leaves, we had to make something, so... instead of purchasing much needed place mats for our temporary quarters, we decided to make them.

I am a huge fan of clear contact paper as for the under 5 crowd. We are always using it for something--sun catchers, stained glass windows, bookmarks, cardboard house windows, fishbowls--you get the idea! It is great to use as a collage medium for the youngest artists because all they have to do is place something on the sticky paper and it will stay put--no glue needed. You can find it with the drawer lining paper in most grocery or box stores.

Decide how big you want your place mats to be and cut 2 sheets of contact paper for each place mat. Tape the non sticky side on to your workspace. You can tape it right onto a window or glass door. Notice that we were working in the bathroom of our one room temporary home because Waylon was napping on the bed!
Once it is taped down, peel the paper off to reveal the sticky side. Start arranging your leaves, tissue paper, or other flat materials. When the design is complete, peel the paper off the second sheet and stick the sticky sides together, sandwiching the the leaves inside. Be careful here, make sure you have it where you want it because it will not come apart easily. Now, peel off the tape and trim the edges.

We were able to talk about and identify the different leaves. This is great to do in the fall and can be adapted for any season.

Not Too Messy!

I know that most parents are not up for a mess all the time (or ever!). Cutting, manipulating and gluing paper is a great way to have a meaningful art experience without much mess.

Some little ones will just want to cut or just want to fold and may not wish to "make" something at all. That is OK. Resist the urge to guide too far. If your child is happily cutting and does not wish to glue, allow them the freedom to do just that. Try not to teach too much. Young artists do not need their work to look like something. Help only when asked.

I gave Hollin a sheet of red 12" x 12"cardstock for the base. The size and color do not matter, but it should be sturdy. Then, I grabbed some scraps from our scrap bin--repurposed art projects, cut-up greeting cards, scraps of construction paper etc. I did control this a bit by selecting fairly sturdy pieces and cutting them into long strips and basic shapes. I showed her how to wrap a strip around a pencil to make a swirl and how to fold a strip back and forth to create a zig-zag. I made a few other folds and cuts on my own then left her with the glue and scissors and with a sheet of round stickers. She got really into this. She created a playground with slides and stepping stones and all sorts of interesting playthings. At one point I had to hold myself back from committing a major creativity killer. She was telling me that tiny little children would have so much fun playing on the slides and walking on the bridge. She was deep in play. I almost grabbed some little stickers of animals or people for her to use but thankfully I held back. She did not need that, she had everything she needed to create a magical playground in her head and on the table. Little images would have destroyed the aesthetic value and more importantly they would have sent the message that you need to have all the props in order to play. I hope this makes sense and that I am not sounding like a lunatic!