benjamin franklin collage for kids

The following is a 5th grade art lesson on collage, using construction paper to create a portrait of Benjamin franklin. 
Scroll down to find:
  1. background info + pictures relating to Benjamin Franklin
  2. step-by-step instructions with pictures of the project
  3. a lesson plan (including California State Visual Art Standards)

info + pictures of benjamin franklin

Benjamin Franklin 
Franklin's birthplace on Milk Street, Boston, Massachusetts
Benjamin Franklin 
- January 17, 1706-April 17, 179
- Was a leading author, printer, postmaster, scientist,  politician, inventor,  statesman, civic activist, civic activist, + diplomat
- facilitator of Philadelphia's  fire department
- inventions - Franklin Stove, lightening rod, bifocals
- 6th President of Pennsylvania
​- one of America's most influential Founding Father]

Some interesting facts + sayings
coined by Ben Franklin

-Ben Franklin was a founding father of the United States
-He was born January 17, 1706 + died April 17, 1790 at 84 yrs old.
-Ben Franklin was an author, a printer, a satirist, an inventor, a political theorist, a scientist, a statesman, a diplomat, a postmaster, + a civic activist.
-His inventions included the lightening rod, bifocals, the Franklin stove, the carriage odometer, + the glass “aronica”.
-The 1st public lending library was invented by Ben Franklin., as well as the 1st fire department in Pennsylvania.

benjamin franklin quotes

  • A countryman between to layers is like a fish between two cats.
  • A good conscience is a continual Christmas.
  • A great empire, like a great cake, is most easily diminished at the edges.
  • A house is not a home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the the body.
  • A learned blockhead is a greater blockhead than an ignorant one.
  • A life of leisure and a life of laziness are two things.  There will be sleeping enough in the gr
  • A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small bundle.
  • A penny saved is a penny earned.
  • A place for everything, everything in its place.
  • A small leak can sink a great ship.
  • Absence sharpens love, presence strengthens it.
  • All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move.
  • All wars are follies, very expensive and very mischievous ones.
  • All who think cannot but see there is a sanction like that of religion which binds us in partnership in the serious work of the world.
  • An investment in knowledge pays the best interest
  • And whether you’re an honest man, or whether you’re a thief, depends on whose solicitor has given me my brief.


5th grade paper portrait collage of benjamin franklin

step-by-step instructions;
cut tan oval + white rectangle - glue
cut + glue 2 thin rectangle in tan
2 black rectangles with curved tops - glue 4 shoulders
cut + glue 2 ovals with pointed ends 4 eyes
add brown pupils, with black circle 4 iris in center of eye
add brown eyebrows, triangle nose, lips - pencil line 4 wrinkles
add wavy, brown hair - no hair on very top of head - add glasses low on nose
finished work - brown background
finished work - notice jacket details

lesson plan

objective

Students will create a paper collage portrait of Benjamin Franklin.  They will look at pictures of him as well as background information about his accomplishments.  They will cut shapes out of colored construction paper and glue them on a background.

materials

  • ​9”x12” light brown construction paper
  • 9”x12” construction paper
  • 9”x12” construction paper
  • 6”x9”black construction paper
  • 9”x12” gray construction paper
  • 6”x9”yellow construction paper
  • 9”x12”cardboard for background
  • scissors
  • pencils
  • liquid glue

activity

  1. Show students images of Ben Franklin + his accomplishments. 
  2. See step-by-step instructions given.
  3. Students should express the value of craftsmanship in their artworks.
  4. Glue should not show.  Artwork should look like it was glued by magic.
  5. Demonstrate cutting, shapes, + where each shape goes prior to students working on their projects.

clean-up

  • Class should stop approx.10min. early for glueing of final center piece + putting supplies away. 

vocabulary words

  • Balance - Visual equilibrium in a composition; achieved by organizing the weight and attention of all elements in an artwork.  Types of balance are symmetrical, asymmetrical, radial, and crystallographic.
  • Collage - An artistic composition made of various materials (e.g. paper, cloth, or wood) glued on a surface. 
  • Harmony - The principle of design that combines elements in a work of art to emphasize similarities of separate but related parts. 
  • Proportion - The size relationships of one part to the whole and of one part to another.
  • Scale - The size of an object or image that is measured by its relationship to the other objects and images that are recognized for their normal or actual size.
  • Space - An area in which objects or images can exist.
  • Shape - A two-dimensional are or plane that may be open or closed, free-form or geometric.  It can be found in nature or is made by humans. 
  • Unity - Total visual effect in a composition achieved by the careful blending of the elements of art + the principles of design.

variation

  • George Washington can be made in the same style. Washington has blue eyes, no glasses, thick, white hair with a curl or circular shape at the shoulder length.
  • Albert Einstein can also be made in same style.  White, rectangular strips, wrinkled for hair, brown pipe, + mustache.
  • Different paper-types can be substituted for construction paper.  (e.g. paint paper colors, add texture like scratch on wet paint, cut from pre-painted sheets)

ca state visual arts content standards  

4.0 AESTHETIC VALUING
Make Informed Judgements
4.3 Develop and use specific criteria as individuals in groups to assess works of art.