Snipping Paper to Make Collage Art for Kids

Jump into a world of creativity with collage activities for preschoolers, a fun-filled activity where imagination meets dexterity. This easy art activity utilizes vibrant hues of snipped paper, transforming them into a collage masterpiece that puts the process in process art for preschoolers.

But this activity goes beyond just creating artwork. It’s also about developing motor skills through scissor cutting practice by snipping paper. Best of all, it’s suitable for all ages.

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Snipping paper is an excellent introductory exercise for preschoolers learning to use scissors.

If there were a formal progression in learning how to cut, snipping would likely be the initial stage.

The reason for this is that preschoolers often find it difficult to fully open the scissors and to move them forward while cutting, which is where snipping comes into play.

The basic action of “close, open, move, close, open, move” requires a significant amount of coordination for hands that are still learning, so anything more complex than simple snipping can be quite challenging for preschoolers who are just starting to use scissors.

Learning to use scissors is just one of many fine motor skills that contribute significantly to self-help skills. AKA: independence. It’s skills like these that are included in my Fine Motor Task Boxes.

What is a Collage for Kids?

Collage making is a technique of sourcing, gathering, organizing, and adhering materials to create art. Collage provides an opportunity for emerging artists, regardless of whether they are toddlers or adults, to explore both color and texture as mediums to convey their concepts.

The greatest benefit of doing collage activities for preschoolers is that is truly embodies the process of art creation.

Why Do Collage Activities for Kids?

From an outsider’s perspective, it may seem like snipping paper strips is just a way for children to create a large pile of tiny paper pieces (which is partially true, and let’s face it, who doesn’t love a bit of confetti).

However, this activity also provides ample opportunity for preschoolers to practice their emerging scissor skills by practicing how to open and close the scissors. These colorful bits of construction paper can be repurposed in the art center.

This is where the concept of snipped paper collage art comes into play.

In addition to practicing their scissor skills, preschoolers also get the chance to refine other fine motor skills as they assemble their collage with glue. There are so many benefits to doing collage activities with preschoolers!

Read this post on how scissor skills develop.

The Ultimate Guide to Teaching Scissor Cutting

Paper Collage for Kids

Collage art is a versatile medium that allows for endless possibilities. It can incorporate various materials such as photographs, magazine clippings, fabric, and more.

But for this activity, all you need is some colorful paper.

Materials

The Set-Up

Precut the construction paper into one-inch strips going the length of the paper. Set out on a tray with some scissors and invite your preschoolers to come and snip away.

How to Make a Paper Collage

The steps for creating a paper collage are really simple.

  • Invite preschoolers to snip the paper strips at will.
  • Gather the snipped paper into a communal pile.
  • Glue snipped paper onto a larger sheet of paper.
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Scissor Snips Exercise

This process art activity offers a lot of practice for preschoolers to use scissors, in particular the process of opening and closing them.

The preschoolers worked for a fairly lengthy period of time snipping away at their paper strips. Some students selected only strips of certain colors, while others grabbed whatever was in front of them.

Some of the children worked very diligently to cut small pieces of paper, while others were just happy to use the scissors and haphazardly snipped at the paper, not worrying about the length of each piece.

Learning to cut with scissor is complex, which is why scissor activities need to be closely supervised. For more information on how to teach preschoolers to properly hold scissor and use them, see this post on tips on teaching scissor cutting, and this one the offers examples of using scissor the wrong way.

Some of the children worked diligently on creating a specific picture they had imagined, carefully selecting certain pieces of paper and discarding others.

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And other children grabbed any piece and found a place for it on their paper.

Collage Art Ideas for Preschool

Making collages in preschool isn’t limited to using only paper. Try some of these other collage art projects that are perfect for preschoolers and even toddlers!

Scissor Activities for Preschool

If you’re looking for more ideas on how to offer your preschoolers more scissor cutting practice, here are some posts about scissor activities for preschoolers.