1st Grade Recyclable Tree Collages

In this unit our main focus was on recycling and how recycled items can be used to create a work of art.  Students examined the work of Lisa Lindgren, Mark Swindler, and ChinChih Yang and discussed what materials could have been used to create the artwork.  We used a variety of recycled materials such as newspaper, phone book pages, sponges, Styrofoam plates, scrap paper, etc in making our collages.  Students created a background by gluing together phone book pages followed by painting them to create a sky.   They painted newspaper brown so they could later tear it into strips and arrange them into a tree.  Before assembling the trees, we looked at trees and talked about how they come in different shapes and sizes.  Students in most of the classes made leaf stamps from the cut Styrofoam plates and sponges.  Each class focused on a different season, the spring trees used tissue paper to create flowers instead of leaf stamp.  Scrap paper was eventually used to add more details to the collages. Next time I do this I'm definitely going to experiment around with different materials :)