Make a Vancouver 2010 Postcard

What's the first thing an Olympic athlete does after arriving in Vancouver? Send a postcard to the folks back home, of course! Here's how to make your own.

What You Need:

• 4” x 7” piece of card stock or other thick, sturdy paper
• Color printer
• Glue stick
• Heavy book
• Scissors

What You Do:

1. Start by doing a Google image search for “Vancouver.” Select a few images that you like, then print them out using your color printer. If you like, you can choose to draw the images using colored pencils, markers, or crayons instead.
2. Once you have your images, it's time to make your postcard. Arrange the images in creatively on top of the piece of card stock paper. Make a note of how much space you have, and what parts of the images you'd like overlapping the others. You'll probably want to cut around important figures or images so that you can glue those on top.
3. Do the glue. Apply glue evenly across the entire surface of the card. Next, apply the first layer of your collage (the one that will be in the background). Apply more glue to the back of the rest of the images as you layer them onto the card. When your artistic composition is complete, make sure to press down firmly so that no pockets of air remain. Place a heavy book, such as an encyclopedia, on top of the card.
4. After 15-20 minutes, remove the book. Using scissors, trim the edges of the pasted images so that none hang over the edge of the card. It should look like a beautiful postcard!
5. Now it's time to write! Try to imagine that you are an Olympic athlete writing home from Vancouver. What would you be feeling, thinking, seeing, and doing? Write a postcard to your parents or a friend as if you were an Olympic athlete, address it, and put it in the mail. The recipient will be so surprised to see a beautiful postcard all the way from Canada!