Time: 60-120 minutes | Skill Level: Intermediate | Topic: Celebration of Self-Identity

What’s unique about your birthday (and you!)? Create a work of art that represents your special day!

Note to teachers: Teacher notes are included (in italics) throughout this project. 

This project, centered on the idea of birthdays, allows for natural exploration of student's identities. Teachers may want to extend this project by inviting students to include personal photographs, or adding time to draw or paint a self portrait to include in the collage.

On timing: This project can be kept focused on the artistic process and completed in one class period, but will benefit from additional time to explore ideas and work on composition.

Beyond the art class, this project would work well in a Language Arts class working on writing autobiographies or other personal narratives. Making a collage demonstrating student understanding of content is a fun and meaningful way to make student's learning visible at the conclusion of a unit.

This project can be adapted for students in elementary and middle school. 

• Younger students (grades 1-2) will need support with fine motor skills such as cutting and glueing. Beyond these skills, teachers may need to take more time to break down the idea of identity and how you can express your own identity. 
• Older students (grades 5-8) are at a developmental phase when exploring and expressing their identity is especially meaningful. When working with students of this age, build in time for them to make and reflect on their artistic choices, and consider having them write an artists statement to accompany their work.