The Arts · Year 1

Active learning ideas

Creating a Collage: Storytelling

Active, hands-on learning helps Year 1 students focus on tactile experiences that build narrative understanding through shape, colour, and texture. When students move between stations and share ideas in pairs, they connect visual choices directly to storytelling, which research shows strengthens early literacy and emotional expression.

• ACARA Content Descriptions
• AC9AVA2D01
• AC9AVA2E01

• 25–45 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Stations Rotation
• 40 min · Small Groups

Stations Rotation: Story Elements

Prepare four stations with materials grouped by type: shapes for characters, colours for settings, textures for feelings, and found objects for actions. Small groups spend 7 minutes at each creating segments, then assemble into a full story collage back at tables. Discuss the narrative flow as a group.

Analyze how the placement of different elements in a collage affects its narrative.

Facilitation Tip

During Station Rotation: Story Elements, provide small story sketches for students to plan before choosing materials.

What to look for

Provide students with a small piece of paper. Ask them to draw one element from their collage and write one word describing its texture. Then, ask them to write one sentence explaining how that element helps tell their story.

• Remember
• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Management
• Relationship Skills

Activity 02

• Outdoor Investigation Session
• 30 min · Pairs

Pairs: Dream Collage Swap

Pairs select materials to build individual collages depicting a dream. After 15 minutes, partners swap pieces and add elements to extend the story. Pairs present the combined collage, explaining changes and interpretations.

Design a collage that communicates a personal memory or dream.

Facilitation Tip

In Pairs: Dream Collage Swap, have students describe their own collage first to build confidence before exchanging.

What to look for

As students work, circulate with a checklist. Ask each student: 'What story are you telling with your collage?' and 'Point to one part of your collage and tell me why you chose that material or color.'

• Remember
• Understand
• Analyze
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness
• Decision-Making

Activity 03

• Outdoor Investigation Session
• 45 min · Whole Class

Whole Class: Memory Timeline

Brainstorm a class memory as a group, then divide into panels on a large mural paper. Each student adds collage elements to their panel using shared materials. Conclude with a walkthrough to trace the story sequence.

Explain how different textures and colors in a collage contribute to its overall message.

Facilitation Tip

For Whole Class: Memory Timeline, invite students to stand and speak only after they’ve had quiet time to recall their memory.

What to look for

Have students display their finished collages. In pairs, students look at each other's work and answer these questions: 'What story do you think this collage is telling?' and 'What is one texture you notice and how does it make you feel?'

• Remember
• Understand
• Analyze
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness
• Decision-Making

Activity 04

• Outdoor Investigation Session
• 25 min · Individual

Individual: Texture Story Experiment

Provide trays of textured items; students sketch a simple story first, then layer materials to match. Test by covering parts and revealing to self-check narrative clarity. Share one key texture's role.

Analyze how the placement of different elements in a collage affects its narrative.

Facilitation Tip

During Individual: Texture Story Experiment, keep a basket of duplicates of the same material visible to remind students that textures can be repeated for emphasis.

What to look for

Provide students with a small piece of paper. Ask them to draw one element from their collage and write one word describing its texture. Then, ask them to write one sentence explaining how that element helps tell their story.

• Remember
• Understand
• Analyze
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness
• Decision-Making

A few notes on teaching this unit

Start with simple, guided planning to prevent randomness, using storyboards and sentence stems to connect visuals to narrative. Avoid over-directing; let students revise their work during peer feedback. Research in early childhood art shows that open-ended materials paired with clear story structures help students move from random placement to purposeful design.

Students will plan and create a collage that clearly communicates a personal story or emotion using intentional shapes, colours, and textures. They will explain their choices in conversations and written reflections, showing how materials support their narrative.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Station Rotation: Story Elements, watch for students who rush to glue without sketching their story first.

  Have students complete a simple story sketch on scrap paper before moving to materials, using the storyboard template provided at each station.

• During Pairs: Dream Collage Swap, some students may assume bright colours are required for a strong story.

  Ask students to compare how a dull colour versus a bright colour changes the mood of their collage during the swap and discuss which better fits their story.

• During Individual: Texture Story Experiment, students may think their collage must show real-life objects.

  Encourage free experimentation with abstract shapes and symbolic colours, then ask them to explain how their choices represent their idea during the class timeline.

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Methods used in this brief

• Stations Rotation
• Outdoor Investigation Session