The first step in creating art is imagination. You can help open a child's imagination with a variety of art supplies and no restrictions on their application. Step-by-step instructions for creating clay shapes, stringing beads or decoupaging images can help, but you can also let your kids create a mixed-media collage that reflects their vision.
Materials
Inspire creativity in children with a blank artist's canvas and a selection of mixed-media supplies. Paint, clay, beads, magazines and pressed flowers are a few of the materials kids can use to create art on a canvas.
Acrylic paints, paint sponges, brushes and a selection of templates or stencils can help kids add colorful designs to the canvas. Cookie cutters can shape clay, but so can a child's hands. Beads and stringing material such as leather cord or fishing line are the only supplies you need to create beaded strands for the collage. Kid-friendly scissors can cut images from magazines or trim people from photos.
A variety of glues can attach the items to the canvas. Viscous craft glue works for beads, clay and other three-dimensional objects, while decoupage glue works for paper and pressed flowers and adds a sheen and protection to the front of paper objects. Kids need paint sponges to apply the decoupage glue and toothpicks to spread the thick craft glue.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Unless the kids like a white background, the first step to creating a mixed-media collage is to paint the canvas with a background color. The kids can cover a canvas quickly and easily with paint sponges, which are inexpensive and disposable, and acrylic paints, which dry quickly.
After the paint dries, the kids may wish to paint more images or designs on to the canvas. This step is optional and depends on the children's overall design idea. They may wish to attach other materials first and then add a painted design.
The first step in creating clay shapes is to soften the clay by kneading. The best tool for kneading clay is your hands. Once the clay is softened, the kids can roll it into a snake for winding and wrapping, or they can flatten it with their hands, a book or a rolling pin. (If you use a book, it's a good idea to cover the clay with wax paper.) Pressing cookie cutters into flattened clay can produce special shapes. Show your kids embellish the clay with beads or rhinestones before it dries. They should also wrap the snakes into the desired shape before the clay dries. After the clay dries, the kids can paint their creations before attaching them to the canvas.
The first step in creating a beaded strand is to tie a knot in a length of beading cord. After the beads are threaded, tie another knot, and you have a strand. Beaded strands make colorful accents to a mixed-media collage. The kids can border photos and other objects with the strand, or they can shape the strand and glue it to the canvas.
After the clay and beaded strands are finished, the final step is to attach them to the canvas. Lay the canvas flat, so that the glue can dry. If the kids are decoupaging, they can also cover their clay creations with decoupage glue to give them an added shine.
