Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Art After Breakfast: Torn Paper Collage



I love to start the kids' day with art time...it gets their creative juices flowing and creates a bit of down time before my toddler's morning nap.

This morning we used Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar as our inspiration. We looked through it together and I pointed out how the pictures looked like a collage of different colored paper.

My 4 1/2 year-old son decided he wanted to make all of the junk food that the caterpillar ate through: "one piece of chocolate cake, one ice-cream cone, one pickle, one slice of Swiss cheese, one slice of salami, one lollipop, one piece of cherry pie, one sausage, one cupcake, and one slice of watermelon."

Materials I provided:

  • Our inspiration book (The Very Hungry Caterpillar)
  • Construction paper: 1 piece of each color
  • White glue in a small cup and cotton swab applicator (he doesn't like to touch the glue...some kids don't like the feel of glue or paint on their fingers)
  • One large piece of construction paper as the base

Even my 1 1/2-year-old participated. She loves using glue, but she struggled with tearing the paper, so I tore some pieces into different shapes and piled them up for her. I only gave her a tiny glob of glue at a time, since she likes to tip and pour her glue out. She has no qualms about using her finger in the glue. Each kid is so different!


This was a fun project for both of my preschoolers. It's easily adaptable for a variety of ages, so hopefully it works as well for you as it works for me!

8 comments:

  1. How much fun is that....

    Turned out very nice. I love it.

    Thanks for sharing.

    robin@heartofwisdom.com
    http://www.heartofwisdom.com/heartathome/

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  2. That turned out very cute. We were inspired by you and did a similar art project, and it was a hit with my two little ones!

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  3. Really good children's books have inspiring artwork in them. Look no further than your child's bookshelf to combine a love of reading with their artistic expression!
    It's a great way to get kids physically involved in a story. Much more to come on this topic, I think!

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  4. I love this idea! I'll do this with my kids later this week. Thank you for sharing your creativity!!!

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  5. fun! i am a teacher and used to do something similar with my students. good reminder to do simple things like this with my kiddos at home!

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  6. Very cute, I'll have to get the kids to try this. They love the Very Hungry Caterpillar too :)

    Rachel xxx

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  7. Looks like fun - and my daughter likes touching the glue and tearing the paper! It could be a winner.

    I like the idea of starting the day with art, too. :)

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  8. We did this today and my kids loved it. Thanks again!!!

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