Create a chunky, textured, tactile giraffe collage that is cute enough to pet! Let your child rip and shred materials, gluing them down while enjoying all of the imperfections and creating a perfectly cute jungle scene. This is a great opportunity to use up all the odds and ends of art supplies left over from other art projects, including buttons, fabrics, feathers, ripped papers and anything else you can find!
What You Need:
- Construction paper
- Cardboard
- Scissors
- Glue
- Feathers
- Buttons
- Pipe cleaners
- Pompoms
- Wiggly eyes
- Foam squares
- Felt
- Pencil
- Marker
What You Do:
- Have your child choose a piece of construction paper for the background. Place it vertically on a table in front of him.
- Next he'll choose a second piece of construction paper that will be the grasslands. Tear it across the bottom in a diagonal line. Glue the grassland paper to the background sheet, matching up the bottom edges.
- Give your child a pencil and have him sketch the body of the giraffe on another piece of construction paper. Help him cut it out and glue it down on the background paper.
- Using a marker, draw the giraffe head on felt, construction paper or cardboard. Cut it out and glue it down onto the neck of the giraffe.
- Ask your child to decide how he wants to collage the body of the giraffe. Use ripped lunch bags, cut cardboard or any other material that can be cut or torn to create brown patches. Glue them in place.
- Choose a material to glue down and outline the brown patches on the giraffe.
- Cut pipe cleaners and feathers to glue down for the giraffe's mane, and give him eyes by gluing buttons or wiggly eyes on his head.
- Add feathers to your giraffe's head and to the mane for additional texture.
- Use pompoms, buttons or any other small items to create texture at the bottom of your giraffe’s feet.
- Add in a background, including foam trees, and a brilliant sun. If you have bright paper, you can rip it and create bird friends for your giraffe.
Helpful Hint: You can create additional texture using dry beans.
By Ellen Dean
Ellen Dean has worked as an art educator in Thailand since 2005, working with both children and adults. She has also been a professional artist working in painting, sculpture and photography since 1996.
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