Creative Activity:
Positive Postcards
Create your own collection of positive postcards using collage, found objects, and art materials. They could show how you take care of yourself, feature something calming or inspiring, or simply be silly enough to make you smile!
Process: Collage & Found Objects
Collage involves taking printed images and text – cutting, tearing, and sticking them together to create new artwork.
Found objects are everyday items you might find on your way to school, in your home or garden, or out in nature. They are available to everyone. They’re often things someone else discarded or lost. By combining collage and found objects, you can recycle, deconstruct, and reconstruct what’s already around you to say something new or different.
What you'll need
- Blank postcards, plain card or paper
- Scissors (or just your hands for tearing)
- Glue (a glue stick or PVA is fine)
- Old flyers, magazines, newspapers
- Natural materials like leaves, flowers, twigs, shells, seaweed
- Found objects like buttons, old fabric, food packaging
- Art materials (anything from a pencil to colouring pens)
Take care
- To wash your hands after collecting and handling natural materials
- To use scissors mindfully
What you’ll do
- Be like a magpie. Gather objects and items that interest you and catch your eye: an unusual leaf, a pine needle, an old button, a flower, a crisp packet, some seaweed, a flyer for a music gig… Choose things that you like, that make you smile, feel good or feel relaxed.
2. Once you have collected your items, bring them together with the other art materials you’d like to use.
Top tip: Keep your found objects, natural materials and any images you like in a special container (like an old jar or plastic box) that you can return to.
3. Now it’s time to make your artwork!
4. You might already have a clear idea about what you want to create, or you might prefer to experiment using the objects you’ve gathered and seeing where your imagination takes you. If you need a starting point, try one of the ideas below.
- Create a positive portrait
- Build a magical creature
- Make your favourite animal
- Create a garden
- Make yourself a positive message using found words and images
- Create a safe and cosy space
- Recreate a place you’ve been to before
- Make a beautiful landscape
- Recreate an existing image
- Create a poem (like a haiku) using found letters and words
- Now take some time to look through the magazine(s), newspaper(s) and leaflet(s) you have collected.
10. Cut or tear out images, words, letters, colours and shapes that inspire you or grab your attention. They might fit your theme or spark a new idea..
11. Place a blank card or sheet of paper on the table and start creating an image using your found objects, natural items, and cut-out pieces.
12. Arrange your artwork by moving pieces around before gluing them down – or stick them down as you go. Whatever feels right is the best approach!
13. Before you stick down your findings, you may wish to decorate the background with pen, pencil, paint or pastels. Or you could do this after you’ve done the sticking!
14. When you think you have finished, take a moment to look at what you have made. What do you notice?
15. Keep your postcards for yourself or send them to other people.
Top tip: You could also make a beautiful box to house your postcards.
You could also try…
…to use the same process but make a big poster instead. You could even work over the top of another poster! Put it up in your room to remind you of how amazing you are or the things that you love.
Video guide
Watch a step-by-step video guide of the ‘positive postcards’ activity.