Looking for an affordable, fun way to spark creativity in kids? Surrealism offers an imaginative approach that invites us to view the world with curiosity and wonder. What’s great about surrealist games is how accessible they are—no expensive art supplies needed! All you need is an old magazine, some scissors, and glue. Whether you’re a teacher in the classroom or a parent looking for rainy-day activities, these DIY surrealist art projects are perfect for engaging children’s creative minds.
Below, we’ve reimagined classic surrealist techniques into hands-on activities kids can enjoy. Let’s explore 8 surrealist games that offer endless possibilities for artistic expression—all using nothing more than magazine pages!
Cubomania: Fragmenting Reality
Cubomania, developed by surrealist artist Gherasim Luca, is a playful way for kids to experiment with abstraction, and it’s super easy to set up with just an old magazine.
How to Play:
Have kids pick a picture from a magazine—anything from an advertisement to a landscape—and cut it into squares. The fun begins when they shuffle the pieces and glue them back together in a random order, creating a completely new and unexpected image. This activity encourages creative thinking and shows how something familiar can be transformed into something strange and beautiful.
Why It’s Great for Kids:
Kids love surprises, and Cubomania delivers! It’s also a fantastic way to teach them about abstraction and encourage them to interpret their fragmented artwork in new ways.
The Exquisite Corpse: The Power of Collaboration
Exquisite Corpse is one of the most famous surrealist games and it’s perfect for group play, making it a great classroom activity or fun for family time.
How to Play with Images:
Cut out heads, torsos, and legs from different magazine images. Have each participant take turns gluing them together without seeing the full figure, resulting in a quirky, mismatched character. Kids will love revealing the final surreal creation!
How to Play with Text:
Alternatively, cut out random phrases or sentences from magazine articles. Let the kids glue them together to form silly and sometimes profound sentences or poems.
Why It’s Great for Kids:
Collaboration is key here! It’s a wonderful way for kids to work together, embrace chance, and enjoy the unexpected results. Plus, it’s a fun blend of art and storytelling, letting their imaginations run wild.
Educational Expansion: Younger students can create imaginative stories about their strange characters, while older students can explore ideas of narrative and chance in writing.
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Collage and Photomontage: Creating Dreamlike Worlds
Collage is a classic DIY surrealist art technique that kids can easily do with magazines. It allows them to create dreamlike worlds by combining unrelated images in unexpected ways.
How to Play:
Let kids cut out various images from magazines—perhaps a bird flying over a city street or a shoe growing flowers—and encourage them to glue these cut-outs together to create their own surreal landscapes. The more unexpected the combination, the better!
Why It’s Great for Kids:
Kids have an amazing ability to dream up worlds that defy logic, and this activity taps right into that. Collage helps them explore their creativity by combining things in new and imaginative ways. Plus, the materials are all right at home—just an old magazine!
Involuntary Sculpture: Embrace Chance
Involuntary Sculpture teaches kids to embrace spontaneity by letting them create without planning. It’s a quick and easy hands-on surrealist game that’s as affordable as it is fun.
How to Play:
Ask kids to crumple, fold, or twist magazine pages into abstract shapes. The key is not to overthink—just let the paper guide them! Once they’ve made their sculptures, have them share what their creations look like or what they remind them of.
Why It’s Great for Kids:
This activity is all about freedom! There’s no “right” or “wrong” way to do it, which helps boost kids’ confidence and encourages creative risk-taking. Plus, it’s a sensory experience that younger children especially enjoy.
Irrational Catalog: Turning the Ordinary into the Extraordinary
In this game, kids get to transform everyday objects into something surreal and magical, just like the surrealists loved to do.
How to Play:
Pick a common object from a magazine, like a bicycle, toaster, or shoe. Have the kids come up with a completely irrational description for it. For instance, a toaster could become “a portal that transforms bread into golden sunrays!” The wackier, the better!
Why It’s Great for Kids:
This is a brilliant way to combine creative writing with visual art. It teaches kids that even the most ordinary things can hold hidden magic, encouraging them to look at the world around them in new, imaginative ways.
Inimage: Discovering New Meaning Through Absence
Inimage, a surrealist technique focused on cutting away parts of an image, allows kids to find new meaning in what’s left behind.
How to Play:
Have kids select an image from a magazine and cut away specific parts—maybe the faces or key objects. What remains is a mysterious, surreal version of the original. Kids can even fill in the blanks by drawing or writing in the spaces they’ve created.
Why It’s Great for Kids:
This game is perfect for teaching kids about creativity through subtraction. They’ll discover that sometimes what’s missing is just as important as what’s there, which encourages them to think critically about images and meanings.
Text Composition: Crafting Surreal Poems
Inspired by the cut-up poetry technique of surrealist Tristan Tzara, this activity is a fantastic way to introduce kids to avant-garde literature through playful, DIY surrealist art.
How to Play:
Let kids cut out individual words or phrases from magazine articles and then arrange them to form new sentences or poems. The random combinations often result in fascinating and poetic surprises.
Why It’s Great for Kids:
Kids love playing with words, and this activity helps them see language in a whole new way. It also teaches them that creativity isn’t just about drawing or painting—it can happen with words, too!
Educational Expansion: This game can serve as an introduction to avant-garde literature, particularly Dadaist and surrealist approaches to language.
Folded Paper Cut: A Twist on Fragmentation
This is a simple but effective way for kids to explore the idea of fragmentation in art, a key theme in surrealist techniques.
How to Play:
Fold a magazine image and have the kids make a few cuts along the folds. When they unfold the paper, the image is fragmented and transformed into something entirely new and unexpected. It’s like creating a puzzle that only they know how to solve!
Why It’s Great for Kids:
Kids love puzzles and surprises, and this activity combines both! It’s a hands-on way for them to see how even small changes can dramatically alter a picture, sparking their curiosity and critical thinking skills.
Conclusion: Unlocking Creativity with Just a Magazine
These surrealist games are a fantastic way for teachers, parents, and educators to spark creativity in kids—without spending a fortune on supplies. All you need is an old magazine, some scissors, and glue. These fun, affordable activities allow children to dive into a world of imagination, where the ordinary becomes extraordinary, and every creation tells a story.
Whether you’re in a classroom or at home, these surrealist-inspired art games are sure to engage kids and encourage them to see the world in new, exciting ways. Ready to dive into the surreal world of creativity? Try these games and let us know how they go by sharing your creations with #ArtSproutsSurreal!
For more fun and creative ideas, check out our previous post on Surrealist Art Games for Kids.