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Kids Mixed Media Art :: Creativity Inspired by Fabric Scraps

by Jean Van't Hul
November 3, 2013
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Mixed Media Art for Kids with Fabric Scraps

On Friday, the kids had fun creating mixed media art with autumn-colored fabrics and paints.

I set up a basket of fabric scraps in the middle of the table, along with sharpies, sequins, a few glue bottles, and some paint. A sheet of white paper at each chair and the set up was complete.

Once Maia and her friend Kara were home from school and the three kids ate their snack, did a complete inventory and trading session of their trick-or-treating loot (it was the day after Halloween, after all), and swung on the swings, they migrated to the table.*

Mixed Media Art for Kids

MATERIALS

  • Paper
  • Markers
  • Paints
  • Fabric scraps
  • Glue
  • Sequins, buttons, beads, glitter (optional)

The Mixed Media Art in Progress

Mixed Media Art for Kids - Starting with a Drawing

Daphne came in from playing first and immediately started drawing, painting, and collaging. First she drew a clown juggling (it started out as a portrait of me with my glasses and somehow morphed)…

Daphnes Fabric Collage of a Clown

…then added orange paint and a generous number of colorful fabric pieces.

Besides the basket of scraps, I had cut some into smaller pieces—squares, triangles, and polygons—and scattered them around the center of the table.

I knew the older kids could cut the fabric themselves but the fabric scissors were too big, sharp, and tricky for Daphne to manage. So I had some fabric pieces ready to use, which she did quite enthusiastically!

Fabric Collage with Kids 07

After her first collage, Daphne drew “a friendly monster with lots and lots of eyes”…

Fabric Collage with Kids 11

…and started gluing sequins on to the eyes.

Fabric Collage with Kids 20

When Maia and Kara finally came in, they dove right into the materials as well, both drawing people, and adding paint and fabric to complete the collages.

Fabric Collage with Kids 13

Kara glued sequins and a couple of fabric pieces to her paper and worked carefully on painting and mixing colors to suit her vision.

Fabric Collage with Kids 18

Maia drew a girl, painted in the face and hair, then glued on a fabric dress (she asked for some help cutting it to fit) and lace trim.

By using Autumn colors for the fabrics and paints, by the way, we turning this into a fall art activity without so much as a pumpkin or leaf in sight!

Have your kids used fabric in their art-making yet? 

Did it seem to inspire them differently?

Kids Mixed Media Art -- inspiring creativity with fabric scraps!

By the way, if you don’t have a fabric stash of your own, either ask any fabric-addict sewist you know to set aside some small pieces for you (believe me, they’ll have plenty!). Or buy a few fat quarters in the quilting section of the craft/fabric store.

*Sooo… I wrote a note here about how I set up art activities for playdates and for my kids but let them notice and come over in their own time. But the little postscript became longer than this post, so I’ll save it for a separate post—maybe tomorrow.

More Mixed Media Art Ideas for Kids

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Mixed Media Art for Kids with Fabric

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