CREATIVE ART TECHNIQUES​ USING COLLAGE AND GLUE​

MANY OF THESE CREATIVE COLLAGE AND GLUE IDEAS CAN BE ADAPTED TO WORK WITH ANY THEME. CHANGE COLORS AND TEXTURES FOR DIFFERENT THEMES AND TOPICS

• Sprinkle colored sand, cornmeal or rice on glue, which can be applied from a squeeze bottle or with a glue spreader

• Drip colored glitter glue on wax paper in a scribble design. Dry overnight, then peel it off. Hang it, use as an ornament. 

• Glue pieces of torn or cut tissue paper onto wax paper, so that they overlap. Brush over finished work with a layer of glue. Let dry overnight, peel off and hang in window.

 ​​

• Stickers of all kinds – colored circle garage sale labels, reinforcers, stars, picture stickers. Make a story picture, a repeating pattern, any design. Talk about it.

 ​

• Glue foam or wood shapes to each other, or to a background. Make creatures, flowers, designs.

 ​

• Paper mosaic – cut your own bits and pieces, or use precut. Use all same color, colors that blend or contrast, various textures and shapes. Different types of paper or cardstock. Cut up recycled greeting cards, magazines, catalogs. Add accents with markers, or glue sequins, buttons etc.​

​

• Paper sack puppets with brown or white lunch sacks. Children cut their own decorating pieces, or use precut. Offer wiggle eyes, chenille pipe cleaners, demonstrate how to fold the paper so some pieces stand up.

 

• Paper plate art – many variations. E.g. make a pocket by stapling on half of a second plate. Or staple 2 plates together, put some beans inside,

 

• and decorate for a shaker. Add streamers. Make a mask or a puppet, add a craft stick handle.  Similar projects with paper bowls and cups.

 ​

• Mixed media collage – shiny paper, colored pasta, cut doilies, yarn, paper strips, glitter glue, pearlized glue. Make a “pretty” mixed media collage for some themes – doilies, glitter, shiny ribbons, pastel colors.

​ 

• Draw a picture/design with colored/neon/pearlized glue.

​ 

• Co-operative paper quilts – each child in a group decorates his/her own square collage – teacher attaches all the squares together to make a quilt shape. Can use colors and papers and shapes for a particular theme.

 

• Foil collage. Cut or tear or squeeze bits and strips of foil. Color with markers.

 ​

• Contact paper collage. Stick anything to the sticky side of a piece of clear contact paper. Nature objects, any paper, sprinkle glitter. Stick the collage to a window, or cover it with another piece of contact paper. Cut around the design

 ​

• Rock salt collage. Shake a little rock salt in a plastic baggie with a small amount of food coloring.

 ​

• Magnet collage. Use a piece of sheet magnet that has white paper on one side (office stores). Glue any collage pieces to it, make a refrigerator magnet if desired.

---

Back to Creative Art Techniques index
Indispensable Supplies
Activity Recipes
Techniques with Paint (20)
Techniques with Collage and Glue  (15)
Drawing Techniques (6)
Techniques for Print Making (10)
Sculpting Techniques (3)
Construction Techniques (4)
Stitchery Techniques  (8)
​Miscellaneous Techniques  (4)
​

MORE TO SEE ...

• Theme-a-Pedia - hundreds of printables and activities  organized by theme​​​​
• Become a KidSparkz member and access a password-protected area of the site for $3.50 a month.
• Toddler Curriculum - for ages 18 to 36 months (over 1600 pages)
• Pre-K Themes Series  -  a  collection of low-cost downloadable mini teaching topics/units that are focused towards preschool and pre-K learners.