One thing I’ve learned with collage and altered books is that drawings don’t have to be flat. Even kids who are a little bored with regular coloring and painting will get interested in three dimensional pictures.
There are so many things you use. Think about buttons, ribbon scraps, leftover caps from bottles, Popsicle sticks, different nuts, peanut shells, raisins, cheerios, dried beans, fruit loops, sticks from the yard, pine straw, and dried pasta of all different shapes – elbows, wheels, shells. Buttons can be eyes, pasta swirls can be hair, and pine straw can be fur or hair. Sticks can be used for “stick figures” or any straight lines.
There are two basic ways to do this. The first is to draw an outline of what you to make, be it a person, a sailboat, or a dog, or whatever. From there you cover the design with glue and put your materials over the picture. You can draw a real picture and just highlight it with some three dimensional stuff. In that case you just want to put glue on the area you want to highlight. Alternately, you can assemble your materials on the paper to get the image you want and then pick the materials up one at a time to glue them.
If you are using large items like sticks and pasta wheels, you’ll need to use a good bit of glue. Give the project a chance to dry before you pick it up or you’ll have a big gluey mess!
This is a great way for using up the items in your project box. Since this project uses small items it is not a good one for very young children who might try to eat the dried pasta or swallow a button. It’s a great project for older kids, you’ll be amazed at how creative the kids can get.
Also See:
Altered Art: Embellishing Your Altered Art
Fun Ideas for Things to Paint On and With