With back-to-school sales taking over sales flyers in our mailboxes, and flooding our inboxes there is no doubt the end of summer is nearing. Some children are excited about returning to school and some are not. This is, of course, par for the course. No matter how the pending student is feeling, encourage them to express these emotions through art. In this case, the creation of a back-to-school collage they can hang in an area of the home or in their bedroom is the topic.
Materials:
- 10x12 in. canvas board (or standard sized poster board)
- School themed stickers, scrapbook embellishments, and ephemera
- Sales flyers depicting back to school sales
- Magazines depicting back to school sales and articles
- Glue sticks (white glue works just as well, but it takes longer to dry)
- Markers
- Scissors
- Glitter glue
- Construction paper
- Paperclips, hole punchers, staples, and other office materials to use in collage
- Newspapers or cardboard
Instructions:
- Cover over the entire work surface with newspapers or construction paper, including where the supplies are being placed.
- Set out all the supplies, a complete collection for each person working on this project (consider working with your child on this project, and create a collage of your own)
- Sift through all the flyers, magazines, and other paper materials to select and cut out items for the collage. Cut them out and set them aside.
- Tear up an assortment of colors of construction paper, and set it aside.
- Start layering the cutouts with the torn pieces of construction paper. Be sure the glue stick is right all the way to the edges of each item before placing it on to the collage. Try avoiding the creation of pattern, but this is really a matter of opinion. Let the pieces of paper guide the work’s progression.
- Set the collage aside to dry completely before moving on to the next step. Depending on how many layers were created, this could take between 24-48 hours to dry completely.
- Once the collage has completely dried, start embellishing use the markers and glitter glue. Consider writing out catch phrases, poetry, thoughts, words, and other pieces of writing (this could also take on a journaling approach, as well) about feelings associated with going back to school.
Variations:
- Draw two large rectangles anywhere on the canvas board or poster board using a ruler and pencil. Collage all around these rectangles. Within each rectangle, use a variety of colored markers (or glitter gel pens) to write out a list of pro’s and con’s about going back to school.
- Create the collage as directed in this article, and add two blank greeting cards anywhere on the collage. Write out journal entries, lists, dreams, goals, and whatever else associated with returning to school.
- Photocopy pictures of friends and fun places that were experienced over the summer, and incorporate them within the collage. Add “thought bubble” scrapbook embellishments to write in next to each picture.
Going back to school does not have to focus solely on negative thoughts. This is harder for some than it is for others, but either way these feelings can be worked through successfully. If your child does not feel comfortable creating a collage to display, encourage them to create pages in a sketchbook, altered book, or art journal so they can still have the opportunity to work through any and all feelings they're experiencing.
