Today, we took inspiration from another favorite blogger of mine, Kelle Hampton. She recently posted about a fun and simple family activity her kids did during quarantine. They took a piece of paper, put their pictures on it, and then painted and cut out things from magazines that described themselves and pasted them on their collages.
Since we have older kids in our house (12, 15, and 17) we are often looking for fun, projects that can inspire creativity during quarantine while also holding their attention. We took inspiration from Kelle, but added the question, "What sums you up RIGHT now? How could you capture what happened during quarantine in a collage?" This is one of the most frugal family activities we have ever done. I literally bought nothing :) We had everything we needed in the house.
So, what materials did we use?
white card stock to print out our photos on; I just went into Microsoft Publisher and copied and pasted some pictures of us onto a document. Hit print, added card stock to our printer and there we go.
paint/brushes to decorate the pictures (We keep a craft bin in our basement and I just gathered things that were there). I did order this set at the beginning of quarantine just to have around for stuff like this.
old magazines--all of ours happened to be WDW Magazine or Midwest Living. That meant lots of pics of food and travel...but it worked out great. Remember, use whatever you have! The kids honestly enjoyed looking through all the old magazines. I did too!
glue sticks and scissors
pens or sharpies to accent things we painted on
The kids each spent over an hour crafting their collages. I was really impressed with their attention to detail! They got very artistic and creative by adding paint accents to their photographs. I loved seeing how different each one was.
I also made one. First I painted (dabbed) with a foam brush to add texture. I love an 80s airbrush "spring breakin" tshirt look. That's what I went for...
My finished product! Some explanation:
I documented some of my favorite things we have done in quarantine....
we had a bonfire by the family cabin at the lake one night-a great memory
I have enjoyed reading books and watching birds from my window in their birdhouses.
My favorite healthy snack during this time has been mini peppers and ranch dip.
Disney has literally gotten me through (ie Disney +, planning future trips, catching up on all my fav Disney blogs and podcasts, having Mickey Waffle nights, shopping online at the Disney store, etc)
gardening has been a lifesaver for my mental health
we have eaten a lot of ice cream :) and we made copycat Dole Whips once already...I am sure there will be more.
my word for this time has been "magic." I have looked for some kind of magic every day during this difficult time.
The kid's finished products were simply fabulous:
In the collage above, my stepson humorously and astutely points out that all he's done over break is eat, play Minecraft, and move poop--meaning he helped with manure management at our dairy farm! LOL
After we all finished, I ordered these cute wooden frames to frame these as kind of our time capsule/memento of quarantine. We already have a family artwork gallery wall in our basement, and I look forward to hanging these there.
Next week, we are trying out a "chalk art" experiment...cheers to crafts and quarantine fun!