collage poetry for kids

I'm trying something different with the kids this summer. I did not sign them up for any day camps like I usually do. I realized last summer that I was doing almost as much running around, picking up and dropping off for camps, as I was during the school year. It didn't feel like much of a summer break when we still had to be out the door by a certain time, and the kids weren't available to do anything spur-of-the-moment. Plus, I was tired of them coming home from camp with stupid "crafts" made from that sticky-back foam from the big box craft store that comes pre-cut into shapes so you don't have to think to make something.

So we kicked off the summer with a trip down to my parents for art "camp" in Mom's studio. Both kids had a good time making sculptures out of wood scraps and found objects. 

No, they did not get to use the chop saw!

Mom was working on some collages that Emma latched onto right away.

Rosemary Luckett

Something about the cut-out words makes the phrases more spontaneous. I liked them a good deal myself and think some version would be cool in her Etsy shop. Right now they are in book form.

Rosemary Luckett

Emma immediately wanted to try her hand at the word collage poetry.

It's actually the perfect craft to do at home or school. All you need are magazines or junk mail, scissors, paper, and a glue stick. It's even more fun than those refrigerator magnets with the single words. Cut out some random partial phrases, single words, and words like "and" and "the".

She came up with these delightful random mini-poems.

I think I like that last one the best.