Welcome to our Creative Ideas Blog – quick simple low-budget art ideas for teaching art to kids.

THESE FUN SIMPLE ART PROJECTS ARE DESIGNED FOR BOTH TEACHERS AND PARENTS TO TRY OUT IN THE CLASSROOM OR AT HOME WITH YOUR CHILDREN. USE SIMPLE RESOURCES – ACHIEVE AMAZING RESULTS – LEARN ALL ABOUT UPCYCLING – CREATE WITH THINGS WHICH YOU ALREADY HAVE AT YOUR FINGERTIPS. NO FANCY ART EQUIPMENT NECESSARY!

CHEAP LOW-BUDGET IDEAS PERFECT FOR GROWING MINDS, AND FOR KEEPING KIDS CREATIVELY ENGAGED. 

This blog is a fantastic FREE educational resource for teachers – learn how to teach kids art, and discover a range of fun 30 minute art lessons perfect for filling in a spare block of time, or to support other key learning areas. The perfect Visual Art resource for teachers.

RAW art is a team of art specialists who run art incursions in schools and kindys throughout SEQ and Sydney/ Newcastle. We also have a fabulous range of DIY art kits which we send to schools and kids throughout Australia.

Be sure to leave us a comment below – we would love to know your thoughts about these ideas and projects. Or – even better – have a go!! – and share with us your results – tag us on Insta @rawartworkshops. We would LOVE to see your projects too.

Foodscapes – Magazine collage

I have these cooking magazines piling up in my house, and once I have torn out all the cake recipes I need to find something to do with all the pictures of salads and vegetable dishes?

So here is a collage activity that will help you upcycle some of those healthy recipe images. It is a landscape collage, almost in the style of British photographer Carl Warner (check out some of his amazing ‘foodscapes’ here) . You will need scissors, gluestick, and some white paper.

Pull out around ten images of dishes, go for excellent textures which remind you of different landscapes, dry and cracked earth, to lush green rainforests. Also try to find some images which are reminiscent of the sky, such as whipped cream, merengue, shortbread, or custard. 

Cut the dishes out in circles and ovals, these will become mountains in your pictures. Starting with the sky, begin layering your collage on the white paper, working your way from the background mountains down the page towards the foreground hills. I recommend trying to place collage that contrasts well next to one another for best effect. Once you are happy with it, you can glue the pieces down, again, starting with the background and working forwards. 

Now cut the paper down to a square or rectangle so that your rough collage edges are all cut off and the piece is framed nicely. You can of course remount the collage onto another piece of white, black or coloured card. 

Now for the next step I worked with a black sharpie, and a white paint pen on my two collages. I wanted to show you how different back and white look on these heavily patterned materials. I think black works a little better as a bold outline, but white gives me the feeling of a winter landscape.  First outline the hills and mountains, then add in some details such as simple trees and lines like farms or fences. Then add a cloud or two into the sky. Check out Gary Coleman’s landscapes for inspiration. 

Perhaps you could try using your magazine collage to make an animal, a face, a monster, a robot, a seascape, a piece of fruit…………….

I kind of feel hungry now………..

Catch you next time.

Tracy x