It is often most fun to do something creative with the kids when nobody is aiming for realism or a likeness to something and where perfection is not necessary. That way nobody sets themselves up for stress or disappointment or dissatisfaction. That is one of the reasons why the sock monsters worked so well as opposed to some other sort of sewing project. Creating collages with magazine clippings was, therefore, the perfect activity to keep everyone happy and content with what they were producing.
We started by painting some watercolour paper with acrylic paint so that we had a bright background. Then it was simply a case of flicking through magazines and cutting out images, shapes, patterns or bits of text that caught our eye and sparked our imaginations. The idea was to construct a ludicrious, ridiculous image by doing a sort of “Frankenstein” on the images and placing them together in a funny, haphazard way. For ease of use, we adhered all of the magazine clippings using glue sticks.
My 13 year old did the one with the red background. I love that he used a roast chicken as a body for his weird creation. My 7 year old did the one on the orange background. It makes me chuckle. I love the detail of the tiny knife and fork in each hand and using the cat’s mouth was a stroke of comedy genius. My 9 year old worked on the green background. He wanted to create an action scene. I like the giant fists on the little Lego man. My 10 year old worked on the yellow background and like his little brother he chose to create an action scene. I like the way the main figure is composed out of Lego parts but ones that are out of proportion with each other. I worked on the blue background and made a little character. I used a paint pen to outline and tie the image together. Cheap and easy but so much fun.
I think your group is on to something here. I love these, every one. The incongruity, the juxtapositions. Makes you think and laugh. At the same time!
Thanks, Claudia. They certainly made us chuckle.
The last one cracks me up.
Thanks!
Everyone’s work made me laugh! You made collage so enjoyable, fun and crazy. Your 7 yr old just made it to my crazy friends list! He is a winner!
Thanks, Carrie. It’s that cat mouth on the wee one’s figure that makes me laugh every time.
Yes! He got it!
I love the great work that you do with your kids, encouraging their own creativity.
Thank you. I know I get a lot out of being creative so my hope is that they will find a creative outlet that balances out their lives too.
Wow! In my studio on the wall in front of my desk is a collage my mother made around 25 years ago for my new in that time house! Yes collages can be great art and great fun!
robert
That’s wonderful. You have an heirloom piece of art. I have a framed sampler that someone made for my grandparents’ wedding. It’s so lovely to have these things on the walls, making them feel even more like home, isn’t it? Thanks for reading and for your lovely comment.