Making Art Possible
Open Ended or Process Art Collage Methods for children, those with special needs and the elderly

Creating Whimsical Treasures-
Collage for the Imaginative 

I love collage for so many reasons, but mostly because the process is so therapeutic. You can do layer after layer and it never gets old. Plus my shaky hands don't seem to affect the outcome like in drawing and painting.

Gluing, snipping, cutting, tearing, and pasting, sticking, or stacking…whatever it takes, collage is one of the easiest, open-ended, art activities you can offer your child. To me, a collage is a bunch of odds and ends, with a common theme, that were creatively pieced together. It is taking existing materials and putting them together in new ways and creating a "whole" new piece of art.

Your most basic collage will consist of just three things: A piece of paper as the base, torn or cut paper as the collage material and some sort of glue to hold those two things together.
Early on, you will be responsible for most of the setup. You may need to stabilize the piece of paper. You may need to cut or tear the materials yourself. You will definitely want to be very picky about the type of glue you allow.

At first, your artist may not know what to do. I suggest that you sit down beside her and put together your own collage. Present the project on a tray, ready to use and create on their own. Model how to use the glue. Model how to place the pieces on the paper. Show her what happens when you use too much glue and also what happens when you do not use enough. Realize, too, that when you model these things, she is still probably going to test things out on her own, so be prepared and patient. Let her or him explore the elements while they are on the tray and don't rush them.

Hope saved little pieces from other projects because she loved to just whip up another project on her own. She called them her little treasures. She also kept some of her favorite things to jazz up a project in the same bucket. Even trips to the grocery stores became adventures to get something new to create with.
The bakery was one of her favorite places to find new things in the cake decorations. She loved to pick out or discover the elements for a project. She was always excited and more interested. So give it a try.
She was such a whimsical child and so fun to raise and the inspiration for the title of this page.

Gluing and Sticking

The glue you choose to use for your collage project will depend on what type of items you are using. In some instances, you may even use a couple of different kinds of glue for a single collage. You might, for example, need a good spreadable adhesive for paper and a heavier duty one for the objects that go on top of that background.

Many crafters find that having a variety of glues on hand is the best approach.

Zip Dry

A favorite glue for many paper crafters and scrap bookers is Beacon's Zip Dry glue. It dries fast and clear and claims to never wrinkle or warp the paper. If you ask anyone who has had experience with this adhesive, they'll probably tell you that all of this is true.

Zip Dry does have an odor that can bother some people who are sensitive to that. It's also more expensive than glue sticks or the average craft glue. However, a little bit does go a long way and if you work with paper often, it's definitely worth having in your craft kit.

TIPS

Feel free to use tools to apply the glue neatly. You don’t have to only squeeze the glue out of the top it came with. Kids can use a q-tip dipped in glue or Mod-podge for their projects. You can even use a paintbrush to apply glue. When using a paint brush, make sure to wash it quickly before it dries.

Let it dry thoroughly. Read the instructions and let the glue dry as long as possible. If you try to move your project before the glue is 100% completely dry, you risk ruining it and then you have try and remove the old glue and start over.

HOW TO GLUE PAPER

For light use paper crafts where you might want to change things; use repositionable glue dots, spray glue or a glue runner

For permanent paper crafts: use a glue stick or permanent glue runner/double stick tape

To glue paper to other surfaces: use decoupage glue to glue the paper down and another coat or two to seal it to the surface. Make sure there are no air bubbles!

HOW TO GLUE CARDBOARD

To glue thin cardboard together: use craft glue or permanent double stick tape

To glue thick corrugated cardboard together: use hot glue, apply carefully to avoid visible glue leaks and strings

HOW TO GLUE FABRIC

To glue fabric together: use fabric glue, apply thinly so it doesn’t soak through the fabric

To glue fabric to other materials: consider using decoupage glue and decoupaging the fabric just like you would paper

HOW TO GLUE FELT:

To glue felt together: craft glue or fabric glue work great!

HOW TO GLUE WOOD

To glue thin craft wood like balsa or basswood together: use craft glue or wood glue

To glue any other wood together: use wood glue, make sure to apply it carefully and wipe off any excess

HOW TO GLUE FOAM

To glue thin sheets of craft foam: use craft glue

HOW TO GLUE STYROFOAM

To glue styrofoam together: use craft glue

Do not use: spray adhesive, hot glue or super glue, they are likely to dissolve the styrofoam and give off fumes

HOW TO GLUE PLASTIC

To glue small pieces of plastic together: use craft glue, super glue or hot glue

To glue bigger pieces of plastic together: use heavy duty glue

HOW TO GLUE PLEXIGLASS

To glue plexiglass together: use super glue and a super glue accelerator, apply sparingly at the joint and hold until dry

HOW TO GLUE GLASS

To glue glass together or to other surfaces: use heavy duty glue, you really don’t want it to break!

HOW TO GLUE METAL

To glue metal together or to other surfaces: use heavy duty glue or a metal epoxy glue

HOW TO GLUE CERAMICS

To glue ceramics together or to other surfaces: use heavy duty gluedots and they both work great.

Teaching How to use Adhesives

A Sensory Gluing Activity

How to make Glue Sponges
To reduce mess

Introducing How to use Glue Bottles

Introducing Gluesticks

Homemade Adhesives

25 Putty Recipes

Make your own Glitter Glue

Colored Glue With Kool Aide

HomeMade White Glue

HomeMade Clear glue

Homemade Gluestick

Homemade Mod-podge All NaturalDries Clear
Cutting and Snipping

To improve fine motor skills, you can encourage your very young toddler to tear the paper for the collage. Cut the paper into strips about an inch wide and show your artist how to use the pincer grasp to hold the strip with both hands and then move her hands away from each other (one toward her body and the other away) to tear it. You may need to stand in front of or behind her with your hands over hers to show her how this is done at first.

As your artist gets better at this type of tearing, you can introduce her to other types of tearing, like folding paper first and tearing along the crease or folding first and tearing along the edge of a table when your child is around 3-4 years of age.

Around 2 years of age, you can start to use a pair of safety scissors to cut the strips of paper instead. When he/she gets the hang of cutting the strips of paper, you can let her tackle larger pieces. At first, draw thick lines with a marker for her to cut along to make her own strips. Later, only make dashed lines to cut along.

The most important thing is to have scissors the right size for your child’s hands.
See Details from the pro’s at Fiskars
For Special Needs Users
Also See note at end of column

Using different weights of papers can make tearing and cutting easier. Tissue paper, for example, is easy to tear and fun to crumple up. It makes an interesting texture and it can offer a new auditory dimension to your toddler's project. It's also delicate, so care must be taken when gluing or the colors bleed and it will start to stick to her fingers. This is a good way, however, to learn things like cause-and-effect.

The paper that you use as your toddler's canvas is also important to consider, not just for artistic purposes, but for strength. Toddlers are heavy-handed with glue until they learn more control, so you'll want to choose a paper that can handle that moisture level and weight. You'll also want to consider heavier papers when you start to use collage materials other than paper (like buttons or Nuudles).

Funtastic Cutting Activities 
by Team Cartwright
Click on link for full article and FREE Printable cutting activities.

More Practice Ideas

Use a Hole Punch

If you aren’t ready to hand over the scissors yet you can start with a hole punch. The old fashioned, handheld, single hole kind. The work on a similar principle to scissors.

I drew shapes on pieces of construction paper and had Ben punch holes along the lines. (Bonus shape work!) You squeeze the hole punch the same way you do scissors and can work on following a line as you go.

This isn’t exactly the same as scissor skills, as the punches bounce back and you have to open scissors manually. But it is a great start, especially if you are a nervous mom like me. (This is a great one for two-year-olds who want to be like big brother too!)

Cutting Play Dough

You can get Play-Doh kits that come with scissors. The great thing about these? Those scissors are just for cutting the clay. That means there is about no way to actually cut skin with them.

Besides simple safety play-doh offers nice resistance to build hand muscles. It also is stiff and holds its shape while being cut.

Play-doh is also great because it is reusable. You can cut, reform the dough, and cut again. This is helpful both for just conservation and for perfectionist children. You can always fix it and try again.

Cut Different Textures

Another fun way to keep cutting practice fresh is to just cut different textures. Try straws, yarn, several sheets of paper at once. If you have extra fabric or felt pieces try cutting those.

Do you have thin foam sheets? Or perhaps bubble wrap? The idea is just to try new things and get a feel for the scissors. You can then use the pieces to create a collage!

Types of Adaptive Scissors

There is a wide range of adaptive scissors available in different shapes and blade lengths. They include loop scissors, table top scissors or one handed scissors, self opening scissors and easy grip scissors.

  • Loop Scissors: Loop scissors make cutting easy and effortless. The loop handle provides additional stabilization to people with weak grasp.

  • Self Opening Scissors: Self-opening scissors are conventional type of scissors with a spring. The spring forces open the blades back to their open position after the pressure has been removed. They are ideal for people who require some extra assistance while using scissors.

  • Table Top Scissors: Table top scissors are perfect for one-handed individuals. Users are just needed to put the object on the scissor blade and press down the handle to cut the object.

  • Easy Grip Scissors: Easy grip scissors have their handles designed in such a way that become easy for the users to hold them. They are perfect for individuals with decreased hand strength.
Adding Whimsy and Personality

My mom passed on a few years ago. One of the things I was looking forward to finding was the tin container where all the thread needles, embroidered patches, and buttons were from my childhood. I was the only one that used it much. I loved sewing. When I found it. It was just thread and needles. Hope had used all of my childhood treasures in her art with my mom. I knew Hope loved buttons. But I didn't expect that. She kept stuff like glitter, sequins, confetti-anything that sparkled, ribbons, buttons, scraps from other projects, pom poms, pipe cleaners, Clear scotch tape and decorative spools of tape, feathers, scrapbook paper, wrapping paper, scarves, envelopes,
Christmas/Birthday cards, paper streamers, nail polish, magazines with colorful pictures, cheap jewelry and craft gems, sponges, scrubbers, plastic containers and lids for tracing, fake grass, leaves, flowers, Q-tips, cotton balls, cotton pads, bandannas and cloth scraps, foil, napkin and shower rings, old fashioned curlers, leather laces and scraps, beads of all colors and sizes, packing peanuts, shoe laces, embroidery thread, string, yarn, Plastic and leather lacing, double sided sticky foam tape, felt, fabric, googly eyes in lots of sizes and colors, plastic silverware, unique office supplies, tissue paper and doilies wooden shapes and sticks, pasta and stickers of all kinds, even the foam shaped stickers. Both plastic and paper straws were interesting to add in. She loved to just paint papers, then stack them to dry. She would then run through her coloring books for a pattern then put them on her her light table. Trace tracing the pattern-which was easier than drawing then painting. And then cut pieces out of the different colored papers and put the picture together like a puzzle.

Something that might be new to you is Magic Nuudles . They are kind of like packing peanuts but come in colors and when you add moisture they become sticky and stick to paper and to each other.
(We licked them.)
Her favorite adhesive was Mod- Podge-Glossy.

Your artists list should include some of their favorite art materials chosen around their interests.

And you don't need a lot to get started and add a bit at a time because nothing gets the creative juices flowing like new supplies. Hopes were girly things but a list for boys might be really different.


When I think of Richie and Weston they were always constructing with recyclables from home. Weston's favorite things to construct with was odds and ends from the hardware store and saw mill. We were remodeling an old house near Bailey Colorado at the time. The hardware store saved him all sorts of odds and ends in a five gallon bucket by the register. What ever people bought in for them to match up, or when the packaging was opened it got thrown in his bucket. If he got the elbows of PVC pipes, we had to get pipes with them. He made all sorts of sculptures with them. A guy that did wood working would save his scraps that came in all sorts of sizes and shapes... Those were his TREASURES.

So lets see what I can add for boys, "Creatology" brand small assorted shaped wood pieces were purchased constantly at Hobby Lobby. You can buy them dyed in colors or natural. Weston often played with his until it resembled an animal then broke out the glue & paint. The foam sticker shapes would work if you don't like glue. He also painted newspaper and cut shapes to make animal faces. It was amazing because he just did it in his head...no pattern. I tried to stick with natural elements, like stones, twigs, small pebbles or crystals, glass stones and pieces of wood. Other items might be marbles, shredded paper, dried beans, nuts and bolts, electrical tape, duct tape, keys and toothpicks. We used cereal boxes, paper tubes, small milk cartons from school, plastic food or juice containers. pipe cleaners, styro-foam balls, rubber bands, key rings and carbingers, small clothespins. golf tees, styro-foam or wood blocks, baby food and applesauce pouch lids(They make great wheels), zip ties, wired trash bag ties, corks, twine and rope bits, play dough, wooden dowels, wooden beads, seashells, bottle caps, brads, fishing supplies, -Boys tend to get imaginative with all kinds of loose parts that are natural or man made, made of wood, metal, stone or plastic, designed or found, and just any items which can be arranged, twisted, bent, manipulated, moved around, and redesigned.
Weston wasn't choosy about adhesives. If he had bubble gum in his mouth it would often be used on a craft. He loved to use Putty (like Poster Putty) because he could mold it and put it in place and then build layers and not have to wait for it to dry. It could also be used for a shadow box effect- giving space between layers.
25 Putty Recipes

Richie used stuff like Tacky Glue and craft adhesives
Choose Your own ARTventure Ideas  Collage Printable Ideas