Kids' Matisse Inspired Collages

Earlier last week, fellow Rockin' Arts Mom Kristen from Art History Mom shared a really neat way to introduce young children to the artwork of Henri Matisse.  I was so intrigued by her post that I did a shortened version of her lesson with my 2 1/2 year old son.  Wow.  I was so pleasantly surprised at how Chuck responded.  He loved looking at the artwork, counting the figures, and finding different colors and shapes.  Since Matisse's collages are so colorful and graphic looking, we then tried making our own Matisse inspired artwork at home.

Kids Make Matisse Inspired Collages

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Aren't they beautiful?  Now little did I know, Kristen (from Art History Mom) also had a similar idea in mind.  She ended up making these lovely Playdough and Construction Paper Collages with her son.  I think that using play dough to make collages is such a cool idea, so definitely check out her activity too!

Materials Needed to Make Matisse Inspired Collages

• Construction Paper
• Scissors (Adult and Kid-friendly scissors)
• Glue (Glue Sticks and Elmer's Glue)

Let's Make Matisse Inspired Collages!

1.  I first did Art History Mom's Henri Matisse Lesson with Chuck.  Then, we looked at some of Matisse's other collages online.  (Note:  If you're a book lover, you could also read one of these Matisse books for Kids.)

2.  Then, I explained that we were going to make our own collages just like Matisse.   So, we pulled out some construction paper and cut out shapes.

I cut out the more complicated ones to resemble some of the shapes found in Matisse's artwork.

3.  Then we glued our shapes on.  (Chuck said this collage was supposed to be a bumble bee.  Can you see the resemblance?)

Once our artwork dried, we had some lovely Matisse-inspired artwork of our own. 

I enjoyed this activity because we got to talk about art, math (counting, shapes, and spatial relations), and colors.  Chuck seemed to enjoy the activity because he got to use scissors (which always ups the coolness factor of any project) and glue (which he enjoyed wiping everywhere.)





Let me know if you try this activity out with your kids!  I think they'll have fun (and learn some things too.)  (Side note:   I learned about Matisse's personal history too... it was super inspiring.)

And if you're looking for other fun ways to make art with your kids, try these three fun activities out!

• Melted Crayon Art
• Super Easy Abstract Art
• Edible Tortilla Art

Happy making!