Create a Picasso-Inspired Santa

Are you a fan of the famous cubist artist Picasso? Help your kids learn a bit about art while getting creative. Pablo Picasso, the famed Spanish artist, helped to create the geometric-inspired cubist movement. Explore this style by crafting a Santa Claus collage. This jolly holiday project allows kids to explore their creative side, learn about geometry and pattern, and celebrate Christmas!

What You Need:

• Cardboard (try reusing an old cereal or packing box)
• Construction paper in red, white, black, and peach
• Scissors
• Marker or crayon
• Clear drying, non-toxic glue or glue stick
• Tempera paints in green and red
• Paint brush

What to Do:

1. Paint the piece of cardboard with red and green holiday colors. Ask your child to create a pattern such as stripes or squares. Set aside to dry.
2. Help your child to draw the different parts of Santa’s face and hat onto the construction paper. Use peach to make an oval face, white for hair and a beard, red for a triangle hat, and black for circle eyes.
3. Cut the pieces of Santa out.
4. Cut the pieces of paper into smaller shapes. Make new geometric shapes from the larger ones. For example, turn Santa’s triangle hat into a smaller triangle, a square, and a rectangle.
5. Place the paper shapes onto the dried, painted cardboard in a mixed-up pattern.
6. Glue the paper to the cardboard.
7. Set aside to dry.
8. Display at a holiday party or give to a special friend as a Christmas present.

This is a great project to experiment with—the larger you create Santa's face, the more fun it will be to create and find shapes from it!