Eric Carle Inspired Spring Collages

PK and Kindergarten artists are welcoming spring with painted paper collages of spring things! Students have been exploring texture this past month and a half, and so we began by making painted paper using different materials like sponges, toilet paper tubes, forks and knives, etc.

After making our painted paper, we looked at Eric Carle's book The Tiny Seed. We noticed the illustrations were very colorful and contained many different shapes. Students were also very familiar with his other books, like The Very Hungry Caterpillar. We learned about his collage making process, where he would also start with painted paper and cut them into shapes to make his pictures.

To begin our own springtime painted paper collages, students brainstormed signs of spring, such as flowers, bugs, birds, and the sun. Each student chose a spring subject for their collage that is in the sky or on the ground. Then we selected painted paper in colors that were needed to begin cutting out the different shapes and think about how the parts would make up the whole.

Students glued their pieces down onto paper, considering how to assemble their various parts as well as overlapping. 

Here are some of the spring inspired collages, after having dried:

Eloise, PK

Logan, PK

Mera, Kindergarten

Luanna, Kindergarten

Next class, students cut out their collages and glued them to a larger background mural, choosing a place on the ground or sky.

The finished collage murals will be on display for the Kinder-"garden" moving up ceremony in June! Keep your eye out for that soon! 

Mrs. Tan's class mural