Collages

Suggested Group(s): Young/Middle/Teen

Purpose: To share information about themselves or about their person who died through art that doesn’t require a high degree of artistic ability

Task/need: Collages can be utilized to address any of the tasks or needs depending on the topic of focus for the collage

Note: Changing the general topic to more specific topics such as suggested below will change the emphasis of the spiral work and the timing of this activity in the session

Activity Setup Ideas:

• Have the children think about how they would like to represent themselves, their families, the person who died or other topics
• When focusing on a person or people, focus the children on hobbies/activities/interests, their feelings, their personalities and memories
• If talking about the person who died, have the children think about how they would like to represent the person who died, what they miss most, times had together

Materials:

• Magazines
• Construction paper
• Markers/colored pencils
• Glue
• Scissors

Description: Once the kids have given thought to how they would represent the topic of the collage, give them an opportunity to create a collage about their thoughts, using magazines and markers. Give the children great latitude to represent the topic or subject in a way that is meaningful to them. Assist the group in finding any particular picture to represent what they would like in their collage.

Activity Wrap Up Ideas:

• Invite any group members interested to share in their collages with the group. (As always, the I-pass rule applies.)
• Note any themes that are noticed between the work of group members
• If the collage represented the person who died, note similarities or differences between the child/teen and the person who died

Suggestions for topics:

• The new changed you — What has changed in you since the person died
• Feelings collages — Pictures representing different feelings
• Self-collages — How do the group members see themselves
• Person who died — How does the child see the person who died
• Their family — How does the child see his/her family either before or since the person has died
• You in the future — How does the child see his/her life as an adult

Adaptations: Collages can be used for group building simply by having each child create a collage about himself/herself and posting it on a large piece of butcher paper with the title "Our Group."

Alternatively, the group can work on one collage together to represent the topic desired, such as their family members who died, themselves or their feelings. Also, collages can be combined with interviewing activities to attempt to learn about and portray a group member.