The word “collage” literally means to glue. And if there’s anything children love to do, it’s playing with glue. The love of all things sticky can work for your advantage when you use it to work in some learning while giving your students the opportunity to use it in making art.

The Benefits of a Basic Collage

A basic collage typically consists of just a few supplies: paper, glue, and other items for tearing, cutting, and glueing. Depending on the age group of your students, you can use a variety of age-appropriate materials to make the most unique pieces of art.

Great teaching moments can come from utilizing collage style art activities. If and when students are not familiar with what a collage is, or how to put one together, you can use it as an opportunity to show and tell - keep reading to see what I mean.

Lastly, there are many learning objectives that basic collages teach:

• Fine motor skill work.

• It teaches cause and effect.

• It allows for self expression.

• It allows for reinforcement of concepts.

How to Create Cityscape Art from a Basic Collage

If you’d like to do this project with your students, you’ll only need a few supplies:

• Black paper

• Construction paper

• Glue

• Chalk pastels

Introduce the idea of creating a cityscape by having your students look at different cityscapes. Bring awareness to the different lines and shapes that can be seen in a real city. Aso incorporate pictures to show. 

After showing pictures and discussing what was seen, invite your students to draw two different city outlines. Then have them glue the pictures on black paper. They should cut them out across the top and glue as layers. 

The night sky can be created with chalk pastels. Stars and a moon can be drawn and cut out with construction paper. 

The Use of Collages to Teach a Variety of Concepts

Creating cityscapes is just one way to use collages to teach a variety of concepts. The more collages your students create, the more their skills will improve. You can also gradually get them involved in choosing materials and supplies for creating future collages.

Some ideas of things to use are:

• Stickers

• Window decals

• Magazines

• Torn paper

• Nature 

The possibilities are truly endless. If you’re looking to work with fine motor skills, have students tear paper. Want to enhance learning about colors? Use different colored construction paper. Interested in creating a sensory collage? Consider using different things found outdoors such as grass, pebbles, and sticks.

With collages, you can choose anything you want because it’s mostly about the technique involved in the art itself. Some of the most popular collages for older students are magazine and 3-D style. 

Regardless of what collage style you’d like to use for your students, remember to always keep it fun. Give room for their creativity to shine through and make sure they are having fun!

CHIME IN: What are your student’s favorite kind of collages to make? Share in the comments below.

Need some artsy apparel? Check out Party in the Art Room’s Teespring store!