How much candy did your collect this Halloween? Instead of tossing those wrappers into the trash, turn them into artwork! Artists around the world use ‘found’ objects to make cool collages and magnificent pieces of mixed media. Teach your child about this everyday art form and encourage her to try out one of her very own.
What You Need:
- Used Halloween candy wrappers
- Cardboard (try reusing a piece of a cereal or shoe box)
- Clear drying, non-toxic glue
- Tempera paint
- Paint brush
- Construction or tissue paper
- Pencil
- Scissors
What You Do:
- Choose a specific Halloween theme, like a ghost, witch, or pumpkin.
- Have your child draw a pencil outline of the object/theme that she has chosen onto the cardboard.
- Help your child to cut the wrappers to fit onto the drawing.
- Use glue to collage the wrappers onto the cardboard. Add in construction or tissue papers to fill in the collage.
- Set aside to dry.
- Paint details onto the design with the tempera colors. For example, if your child is creating a pumpkin, she can add on jack o’lantern eyes and a mouth with a dark colored paint.
As an added bonus, this activity will help your child to learn about concepts such as color, shape, and texture as well as helping her to count and read. Make sure to have her point out the letters and words on the wrappers as she works, and then count how many pieces of candy went into her collage after she has finished.
Erica Loop has an MS in Applied Developmental Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh's School of Education. She has many years of teaching experience working in early childhood education, and as an arts educator at the Carnegie Museum of Art in
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