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Happy children sitting on a tree branch.

Make a family portrait collage

Blue painted background
Get the family together and create fun family portraits out of old magazines and papers.

Fun when done as a family, this only requires old magazines, papers, boxes and other bits you can find easily by raiding the paper recycling.

What you need

  • Paints

  • Coloured pencils and pens

  • Household junk

  • Magazines and newspapers

  • Glue

  • Scissors

  • Sheets of good quality white paper – one or two for each portrait

What to do

  1. Each person chooses a family member for their portrait (no one is left out).

  2. Using your art supplies and junk, create a unique portrait of your chosen family member.

  3. You can also cut words out from magazines to describe that person, and be as creative and wild as you like!

  4. Using another piece of paper, design a frame for your portrait and attach to the outside of your portrait.

  5. Once everyone has completed their pictures – and they’re dry – choose the perfect spot in the house to display them.

  6. It’s also a great idea to have a look online and choose a particular artist’s style (e.g. Gilbert and George, or Salvador Dali) and have each family member emulate this as they create their portrait.