Collagraphy (not to be confused with calligraphy!) is a print-making technique that uses textured elements applied to a rigid surface to make a picture. It’s a fun art process that will engage your preschooler with texture in new ways.

Before school, Travis and I glued various items from our craft bin onto a piece of cardboard. Sponges can be cut into smaller sizes and applied.

We also added craft sticks, foam pieces, and buttons.

Corrugated cardboard works especially well; try using the reverse side of a coffee cup sleeve for this!

I asked Travis what kind of scene we should make, and he decided a spring garden. We glued down all our elements to make flowers, a tree, a fence, and “pebbles” on the ground (these were the buttons).

By the time he was home from school, the glue was dry and it was time to paint! I set out cups with different colors. For the first round, we stayed true to nature: a yellow sun, green flower stems, red blossoms, etc.

Press a piece of white paper over the print, making sure to press down hard on all your 3-D elements.

We lifted up the paper for the big reveal. Travis was astonished and loved it!

He immediately wanted to make a second version, but with different colors to see how it turned out.

We’d run out of yellow for the sun and sky, so instead painted these parts black. As we lifted off the paper, I said it looked like a black rain cloud. But Travis said, “It’s a turtle with a smile!” Talk about glass half-full, what a wonderful answer!

Then he decided it would be silly to make an all-black print, very Rorschach test of him.

In sum, this was a a fantastic art project and we would definitely do it again.