Activity Idea: Individual Collage

This activity for middle school and older elementary school children is adapted from the Museum of Tolerance’s Finding Our Families, Finding Ourselves curriculum for afterschool programs.

Instructions
Gather some children’s magazines (a wide variety, representing diverse people and activities), scissors, glue sticks, crayons, and paper. Ask students to take a moment to think about or write down words and images that describe who they are as individuals: their feelings, dreams, likes and dislikes, hobbies, family, culture, etc. Ask the kids to look through magazines and cut out words and pictures that match their ideas of themselves. If some of what they’re looking for isn’t in the magazines, students can draw or write on a separate page and cut out those words and pictures, too. All cutouts will be glued to a construction paper page to form a collage. Once the collages have dried, ask each student to go around the circle to share something meaningful about their collage. How did it feel to make the collage? What was difficult about it? What was enjoyable? How does it reflect what you’ve learned from your family, community, or culture?

The Standards Connection
This project connects to California Academic Content Standards in English/Language Arts and Visual Arts. Students also practice showing respect for others’ artwork; sharing personal beliefs; demonstrating confidence in their own artwork; communicating through art; demonstrating acceptance of other people’s differences; and taking pride in how they view themselves as individuals.