3D Found Poem Collaging
Maybe you’re already planning on attending the Loft’s Summer Youth at Mac (yay!) or maybe you need a little something to get you interested. At summer youth, you’ll do activities and writing prompts like this. Use this to get ready for this summer or just for fun!
You may have read other stories or poems to help you write before, but have you ever noticed how many words are around us all day, all the time? There’s cereal boxes, street signs, magazines, candy wrappers . . . what else can you think of? We’re about to use those words to create your very own collage poem. It’s time to investigate the stories that are hidden in plain sight all around us.
Grab your notebook, scissors, markers, glue, and let’s go!
First, find four to five different materials with words on them: receipts, your old Christmas wish list, a birthday card, or a Cheez-Its wrapper will work. Just don’t dig too deep in your recycling, and don’t take anything your parents might need! If the words you find are on something like a street sign, store name, or car license plate, write them down on a sheet of paper.
Next, you’ll need to grab your scissors. What words jump out to you? Which ones sound cool when you say them out loud? Cut them out carefully and place them on a page in your notebook.
This is the fun part! Before you glue any words down, you get to rearrange them as much as you want. You can even paint or color the background before you permanently stick them down. If you’re feeling extra adventurous, you can lay the words in a specific shape, like a circle or a leaf. Make sure you try as many combinations of words as you can. If you’re having any trouble, check out this example below:
After you’ve spent some time playing with your words, it’s time to lock in your final collage poem. Carefully glue all your words down. Include any pictures or drawings that might make your collage poem more colorful and interesting. And there you have it: your very own collage poem, made up of words that surround you every day.
The cool thing about your collage poem is that all these words had a different meaning before you cut them out. You brought them a second life by creating a collage poem, almost like recycling or a remix!