Introduction
The word collage is derived from a French phrase which means “pasting” or the art of glue sticking pieces of paper, sticks, wood, fabric, metal, plastic, fiber, seeds, feather, textiles, etc. to a board in a variety of shapes, patterns, textures, and colors. General Appearance: A collage should form a pattern, a picture or an abstract design of pleasing shapes, colors, textures and any other design elements and art principles.Technique and Workmanship: Select appropriate adhesive for medium used:Felts/fabric use rubber based gluePaper, cards, cardboard use poly vinyl adhesiveFeather, twigs, wires, string, metal or other materials needing a transparentadhesive use transparent plastic adhesiveSelect a board that will support the media used for the collage. Example: plywood, hardboard, stiff card stock or the sides from packing cases. Do background or larger areas first then fill in with smaller details.Use a background complimentary to overall design. Use shape and balance as you work your design.Finish: Avoid use of excessive glue when pasting shapes and pieces of media to the base board. All edges of pieces should be neatly glued. Flatten the paper collage with a small roller. An appropriate hanger should be securely attached to baseboard if collage is to be hung. Completed collage should be neat, clean, and protected. For long-term durability, display paper collage behind glass and keep away from heat and moisture.
Consider using inexpensive paper for practice. Types of paper are typing paper, photocopy paper, computer paper, writing paper, brown wrapping paper and even pages cut from a magazine. Avoid using newspapers, paper towels, tissue paper, or paper used in duplicating machines. Typing, photocopy and computer paper can be purchased inexpensively from a printer. Success depends very largely upon the care with which folds are made. Being able to make basic folds is important. If they are inaccurate, every other crease that follows willalso be inaccurate. Folding should be a crease in a flowing sequence and contain no irrelevant jerky creases, bulky layers of clumsy techniques. Run thumbnail along the crease each time you make a fold to make it sharp.Folding is simpler if you rest your paper on a hard, level surface, such as a table or drawing board. As you near the end of folding the object, you may fold smaller folds in the air. Sit comfortable. Origami becomes a folding art, not a folded art. A good design seems obvious. A poor design seems contrived, emerging from the paper with difficulty.
Use of Shape TemplatesFind large plastic shape templates and stencils to put into a tub with colored pencils and thin markers and plenty of paper.Shape Stamping and SpongingOffer stamps and/or sponges in shape varieties, with stamp pads or trays with small puddles of washable tempera paint.Shape Magnets and/or Felt BoardsLakeshore Learning (see the Books and Sites section of this guide for the website) or other early childhood catalogues offer products such as magnet boards and/or felt boards, which can be assembled to create images.Foam or Wood Shapes with glue on boardCut a variety of poster board sizes, and offer these with foam and/or wood shapes for image creation. (Again, foam or wood shapes are in the school catalogues.)Sketching Animals from ShapesIf you demonstrate step-by-step drawing from shapes, kindergarteners are ready for this, especially as the year progresses. Books by Ed Emberley, and other simple drawing books (topics could include animals or vehicles, or cartoon characters such as Pokemon, or any other high-interest subject…many are available) can be used. Put these in a tub with a variety of drawing materials.Building Blocks, Straws, etc.Building blocks, straws or other 3D play object are great for teaching about shape and form.Free work with Play-dohStudents love creating shapes and forms with play-doh. Collect cutters, rollers and other appropriate tools.
