Texture Collage Mixed Media Art Project

Sandpaper, cotton balls, aluminum foil, fabric scraps, bubble wrap, corrugated cardboard, yarn, dried pasta

A sturdy poster board or large cardboard piece

White glue and scissors

Spread out all the textured materials so your child can see and touch everything.

Lay out a large poster board as the base.

Let your child explore each material — feel, bend, crumple, squeeze.

Give them scissors and glue. Invite them to arrange and attach materials however they choose.

Encourage intentional placement: smooth next to rough, bumpy next to flat, hard next to soft.

Glue everything firmly and allow time to dry.

Run fingertips across the finished collage together. Name each texture you feel.

This is tactile art — meant to be touched, not just seen. Display it where your child can run their hands across it.

Cutting different materials builds scissor skills. Sandpaper is harder to cut than cotton — that variety is the point.

Add a label to each section with a descriptive texture word for a vocabulary extension.

Try this blindfolded as a follow-up: can your child identify each material by touch alone?

Frame it or hang it on the wall. Texture collages make genuinely impressive art pieces.