Creating a colorful profile collage was an idea I thought of from previous experience in Art Club during my high school years. However, what I envisioned and what occurred were two very different things. But I share this because homeschooling and teaching is a journey, not a one and done. It’s about taking on challenges and working with them.

So while this is the first stage to my collage art experiment with three boys, we are going to keep working at it and try again. You’ll see our results as we go…

Art is a Process

I thought that by giving a few examples and providing ample amounts of paper, newspaper and colorful magazines, that the collages would be easy and come together. However, the process came together differently. As each child approached the collage, they didn’t quite grasp the idea. Is this age and personality? Perhaps. But it may also be that the concept itself was not expressed well enough. So we try again and work at it. Artists and sculptors do not just sit down and create in one hour. They work at it over time and sometimes decades, like Michelangelo and others.

Materials

• Magazines
• Newspapers
• Colorful strips of paper
• Gluestick
• Cardstock
• Pencil (for outline of profile)
• Scissors
• Paints or dark markers for background

Art Collage Activity

Tape the cardstock on the wall and have your child stand sideways against paper and you sketch their facial outline. This can be done in various ways, but we enjoyed this the most. You can shape the face after tracing the initial outline.

Explain to child that the profile is filled with what represents them, what they like and their personality.

Cut out various strips of newspaper, magazine pages and paper to overlay/overlap within the profile until all the empty spaces and areas are covered.

It’s okay if the papers go over edges a little, you can paint or color over that.

Get a dark paint or marker and shade around profile to hide any edges.

First Collage Lesson….

Second Try…

Not perfect, but still fun…

Our children (ages 12, 10 and 9) are by no means artists. While they may enjoy it at times, we did not prioritize art as much in their younger years. They did crafts and hands on experiments, but formal art lessons were not prioritized due to work schedules and moving and the fact we often had a child potty training and a toddler in diapers for many years. So I see this second attempt at the profile collage as an improvement.

We are learning and growing in the process. I think that the process was more educational than the end result. Even though these are not how I envisioned, art is all about creativity and learning. It’s a form of expression and I think this was a good first learning experience with collaging.