Your budding artist will love this springtime activity that's inspired by the beautiful art of mosaics. Instead of traditional tiles and ceramic pieces, she'll use kid-friendly yarn and glue to design her own vibrant, brightly-colored flower. Start by helping her explore the wonders of nature to come up with some inspiration, and then help her create an imaginative mosaic flower in a rainbow of hues. This project provides tactile fun, and is a great way to work fine motor muscles.
What You Need:
- Yarn (in a variety of colors)
- Construction paper
- Clear drying, non-toxic glue
- Scissors
- Pencil
What You Do:
- Choose a spring flower, and ask your child to describe what shapes she sees. Are the petals shaped like ovals? Do the leaves look like triangles? This is also a great opportunity to talk about other types of shapes such as organic shapes, which differ from geometric shapes in that they are based in nature and are more free flowing (like an amoeba). Help your child distinguish the organic shapes in the flower versus the more geometric ones.
- Have her sketch the flower (shapes put together with lines) onto the construction paper with a pencil. Use a light colored paper, so that the lines show up clearly.
- Ask her to cut small pieces of yarn into segments that are not more than two inches long. She'll need a shade of green for the stem and leaves and additional colors for the rest of the flower.
- She can now use the glue to trace over the pencil lines. To avoid too much drying time, work in small sections.
- Instruct her to place the pieces of yarn over the glue and press down. Set aside to dry thoroughly.
When your child is finished, she may wish to add some extra special embellishments. For an added sparkle, sprinkle small amounts of glitter onto the glue before it tries, or ask her to draw a landscape background with markers or crayons.
By Erica Loop
Erica Loop has an MS in Applied Developmental Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh's School of Education. She has many years of teaching experience working in early childhood education, and as an arts educator at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh.
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