Car Shaped Collage Art Project
Contents
This early childhood art lesson plan features steps to create a transportation-themed car collage with young children.
Build shape recognition skills and aesthetic awareness with this fun transportation themed art activity. Preschoolers can create and combine shapes to construct collage made cars. Use this lesson plan with a variety of thematic units such as shapes, transportation, colors, or famous artists.
Preschool Collage Car Lesson Objectives
- Explore art materials and processes.
- Build shape recognition skills.
- Understand basic math concepts such as geometry (shapes) and the part to the whole relationship.
- Increase fine motor skills.
- Follow steps in a sequence.
- Build vocabulary.
Age/ Grade Level
This activity can be used with children ages three and up.
Materials Needed to Create Shape Collage Cars
- Construction paper
- Children’s safety scissors
- Glue sticks
Steps to Create A Transportation Themed Collage
Pre-activity
Discuss transportation methods and cars. Ask the class to talk about what a car looks like and how it moves. Try reading transportation and car-themed books to the children. Choose books with vibrant illustrations or photographs. Have the children view the pictures and discuss what they see.
Before beginning, this art activity makes sure that the children understand what a shape is and can name at least a few basic shapes. It may be helpful to first create several shape templates. Hold these up and ask the class to name each one. Connect this to the collage activity by asking the children to name what shapes make up specific car parts. For example, the wheels look like circles.
Preparing Materials
The children will need a variety of shapes in an assortment of colors and sizes for this project. Either precut these from construction paper or create stencils/templates for the children to use.
Process Steps
- Make sure that the children have an assortment of shapes. Encourage them to combine the shapes onto a separate piece of construction paper to form a car. Compare this to putting together a puzzle.
- Have the children glue the shapes (in car form) onto the construction paper.
- Set aside to dry.
Transportation Collage Lesson Wrap Up
After the car collages have dried, invite the children to discuss what was created. Make sure to reinforce specific new vocabulary words during this discussion. These words may include geometric shape, circle, collage, or transportation.
Ask each child about his or her individual work of art. Use open-ended questions such as, “How was the car made?”. If a child is reluctant to speak, try a discussion prompt that is specific to his or her artwork. Specific prompts should be based on an aspect of the child’s collage such as the colors used, shapes, or the car itself.
Transportation Collage Enrichment Activities
This art activity pairs nicely with a transportation unit. Other transportation activities that can also be used include a boat collage, an airplane painting, or a train sculpture.
Additional classroom connections and enrichment activities include:
- Math: Use this activity to introduce basic math concepts.
- Alphabet: Incorporate the car collage into a unit on the letter “C”.
- Dramatic Play: Ask the children to imagine that the car is real. Have them create pretend car noises and movements.
Creating a car collage in the preschool classroom is a great way to introduce a unit on transportation. Help the children to create a variety of shapes, and then watch as the class collages imaginative autos. Once complete, display these wonderful works of art for the parents and other classes to see.