Here's what to do:

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  What you need

  • 1 A3 or A2 sheet of thick paper or card, for the background of your poster

  • 2 or 3 A4 sheets of thick card, for making stencils

  • 1 pair of scissors

  • 1 glue stick

  • Something to mix paint in, like an old tray

  • Some paints (poster paint, acrylics, whatever you can get your hands on)

  • A variety of collage materials - old newspapers, magazines or coloured paper

  • Coloured markers, crayons or pencils (things to write with)

  • 1 or 2 sponges (and a brush to mix paint with)

  • Another sheet of paper that you can roll to make your poster into a placard and hold the poster up, or a stick

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  1. Choose a topic for your poster

  Do a brainstorm with coloured pens to help you record your ideas. What do you care about? What do you want to change? Is there something that you think should change in:

  Your school?
  Your neighbourhood?
  The world?

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  2. Sketch your composition

  Once you have decided on your topic, sketch out a plan. You don’t have to stick to it, but artists often make sketches before they create an artwork to help them plan. Think about what shapes and colours are going to make the poster look bold and bright, and what text you want to add to get your message across.

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  3. Gather your collage materials

  Have a look in old magazines or newspapers, and tear or carefully use scissors to cut out images, patterns or colours that you like. You could also search on the internet and print out images if you have a printer.

  Set your collage materials aside for later.

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  4. Make your stencils

  Referring back to your sketch, choose two or three geometric shapes (e.g. circles, triangles or squares) that you want to repeat in your poster. You will create stencils for these.

  Think about whether the shapes need to be big or small. Making a shape into a stencil means it will be exactly the same each time you stencil it.

  Draw your shapes in thick pen onto the card and then cut them out to create the stencils.

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  5. Prepare your paints

  Before you start painting, protect your work surface with newspaper.

  Choose a colour (or colours) that reflect your ideas for your poster. Do you want a calm colour like blue or pale purple? Or an angry colour like red or black?

  Mix your colours and prepare your paint palette ready to sponge the paint onto the poster using your stencils.

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  6. Use a sponge and apply paint

  Refer back to your sketch to help you decide where the stencils could go. When you have decided where you want your shape to appear, place the stencil over the background card and then apply paint with the sponge.

  Be careful to keep the stencil still while you use it and to not put too much paint on the sponge.

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  7. Use your stencils to repeat shapes

  Re-use your stencils to repeat shapes or create patterns.

  Be aware that if the paint on your stencil is still wet, it might mix with your paints already on the poster that are also still wet.

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  8. Try reverse stencilling

  You can also use the shapes you cut out of your stencils to paint around, creating outlines. This is called reverse stencilling.

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  9. Experiment with your stencils

  Layer your stencils and have fun with the different shapes, to get a bold, bright effect!

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  10. Add your collage

  Now get your collage materials. Add geometric shapes, images of people or animals that will add to the message you are portraying.

  Think about which images you could use to make your message clearer. Try to keep the composition simple, bold and bright!

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  11. Add words

  Use collage, thick felt tip pen, or paint to add words to your collage. Make sure your message is clear and the words are big enough to see from a distance.

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  12. Add any finishing touches

  You could add another stencil, more text or more pieces of collage to finish up your design.

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  13. You're done! Hang your poster

  Hang it up, send us a picture of it or show your family or friends.

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  14. Or make it into a placard

  Attach a stick or wooden spoon to the back to make a handle …and hold it high!