AR 272--Shoebox Collage

This is an easy lesson you can use at all grade levels and in many circumstances. (Think Mother's Day Jewelry Box, Father's Day All-Purpose Box, Autobiographical Paperweights, etc.)

Aims: To have students work on their cutting skills
To explore collage technique
To learn proper gluing methods

Materials: cardboard shoebox, photos, printed downloads, magazines, wrapping paper, etc., glue stick or white glue, a glue brush for white glue, a small glue container, good scissors (I like the small orange-handled Fiskars). Optional: Mod Podge (for varnishing).

Vocabulary: collage (teach the difference between collage and college)
overlapping
edge
composition

Motivation: Talk about the various possibilities your students have in this project. They might choose a theme (animals, my life, my family, a surrealist landcape etc.)

Procedure: Demonstrate proper cutting (the paper moves, not the scissors for the most part). Next show how your students can plan, by cutting out many shapes and laying them down in different ways, before gluing them down. Gluing needs to be done only around the edges. Make sure the students proceed carefully so the shapes don't wrinkle. Cutting around photos rather than gluing on the rectangled, uncut photos looks better.

Reflection: Share the work and display, if possible.

Optional: Coat the finished product with Mod Podge, which makes a glossy coating. Photo collages may not need this step. Try some Mod Podge on a corner of a photo to see if it looks nice or not before coating your box.