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Collage Craft Ideas For Kids

Collage craft ideas can keep children busy for an afternoon or for an entire summer. Depending on what type of photos or embellishments you use, the project can be ongoing or can end the same day.

A special way to make a collage crafting project even better for children is to create the collage around an event they are involved in, like summer vacation. Or, your children might want to make a collage that features memories of friends or pets. Either way, kids will enjoy gathering collage materials and laying them out in patterns that mean something special to them.

Summer Vacation Collages

When planning your next summer vacation or even spring break, think in terms of places and items that would lend themselves well to your collage-making ideas. Keep a large box for materials found in the wild and around the house, as well as a bin for photos.

Planning: If you're leaving home for a summer vacation, have your children make a list of things they plan on taking with them, or, if you're staying home, have them compose a list of the things they would like to do over the summer. This list can later be used as a border for their collage, or the words can be woven into the collage, perhaps beside the photo that each word represents.

Materials: Because children are notorious for changing their minds, use glue that can be removed easily. New additions to the materials box will cause your children to change their minds regarding the layout of the collage numerous times before the summer is over.

Photos: Take plenty of photos. Make sure the photos include serious and posed images as well as candid, downright silly snapshots.

Collect Memorabilia: Collecting summer vacation memorabilia means collecting place mats at diners, funky straws at restaurants, flowers and seed pods in an out-of-the-way meadow, pine cones and evergreen needles in the forest and items found on every beach visited.

Craft Boxes: Craft boxes can be purchased at any craft store. But, even if cash isn't limited, be creative and make your own craft boxes out of shoeboxes. Craft boxes can have a collage glued to the entire outside covering all three sides as well as the top, or your child can create a secret collage by gluing the photos and embellishments along the walls in the inside of the box.

Photo Frames: A child can also create photo frame collages by gluing small photos in a zigzag pattern onto the frame. The best types of photo frames to use are the frames that are at least inch-wide, with flat surfaces, so the glue has a good surface to stick to.

Set Up Area: Set up an area in one corner of the living room or playroom where the collage can remain all summer as the children build it.

Creating A Pet Or Best Friend Collage

Collages inspired by pets or best friends would be a special addition to a child's bedroom. Go through your photo albums, and collect every photo of your child and his pet or just of the pet, and also any photos of him with his friends. It's best to ask the child if he wants to make the collage and also to let him choose the photos before you have copies made. Once you have established an affirmative from your child, place one set of photos on the table, and let your child enjoy the wonderful pictures.

Have a sample collage already made to show your child how a collage is created. Be aware of the fact that your child may copy your collage perfectly, so, if you want him to be more creative, you may have to explain other ways of creating a collage to help him get his own ideas flowing. Better yet, you may want to start the collage for him so that he gets the idea without becoming overwhelmed. Use fake fur that's the same color as your pet for accent pieces, and use jewels that are the same color as the pet's eyes. If your child and his best friend are eating watermelon in one photo or holding footballs in another, superimpose paper watermelon slices or footballs that your child has created either with rubber stamps or scrapbooking items of the correct size. Adding small pieces of artwork created by your child will help your child to feel ownership over the collage.

If your child is into a particular music icon or celebrity, he might enjoy cutting out photos of this person from magazines and making a collage out of them, as well. The lyrics from his favorite songs can be used to create a border or be woven in and around the photos. Add some fun by showing your child how to superimpose photos of himself into the picture with the celebrity.