Back to the basics with seed mosaics

This is post is dedicated to going back to the basics. A simple project using materials you have at home. What little kid has not used beans, pasta and seeds at school to make a cute picture to take home to Mom and Dad? Running your hands through bowls of lentils and beans is relaxing as well as being fun! The twist that we wanted to add for our artists was the use of different colors and sizes to add detail and complexity to a picture thus creating a mosaic.

You will need:

Step 1: Take some time with the kids to divide the soup mixes into the different colors and sizes of beans/grains putting them into seperate bowls. This is a great time to explain to the kids how to create an outline that will give their mosaic a little bit of shape. We took this opportunity to talk about the names and colors of different components of our soup mixes.

Step 2: Use a white pencil to draw a shape onto your colored paper. The image should be simple because the beans will be used to add detail. We used a fish but any subject could work. Cover a small area of the image with a generous layer of white school glue.

Step 3: Start to add the beans in planned way. We decided to outline the mouth of the fish with sunflower seeds and fill it in with sesame seeds. Smaller seed can be carefully added to the image using a spoon.

Step 4: Work slowly dividing the different parts of the fish into head, tail and eye so that the final effect is more than just beans glued onto a piece of paper!

Here is an example of the work of art generated by our of FunLab gang.

Remember if you try it at home, take a picture and send it to us!