craft corner

This is a wonderful, low-waste craft using recycled cardboard and dried beans, seeds, or grains that you have at home. You can also find seeds outside from trees like red maples when they release their seeds in early summer. Making seed mosaics is a pleasing sensory experience for all ages and a perfect rainy-day activity!

Materials

AN ASSORTMENT OF BEANS, GRAINS, AND SEEDS

CARDBOARD AND/OR COLORED OR BLACK PAPER

TACKY GLUE

Make A Seed Mosaic

Directions

1 Gather your materials. Collect seeds of different shapes, sizes, and colors. Rice, beans, bird seed, corn kernels, and sunflower seeds are all great materials for this activity.

Tip: Sorting seeds and beans into small bowls will help you to plan and stay organized.

2 Choose your background. Select a piece of cardboard or colored paper to use as the background for your piece. You can cut it into an interesting shape or leave it as is.

3 Plan your design. Draw a design on the background or experiment with different design ideas by arranging your seeds directly on the background.

4 Glue your seeds. Once you are happy with your design, it is time to glue. Work on your mosaic one section at a time. Squeeze some glue onto the paper, spread it with your finger or a paint brush, and then place your seeds on the glue.

5 Fill the picture with seeds. Continue gluing seeds one section at a time. Use different seeds for each section.

Tip: You can use a small spoon to sprinkle the smaller seeds over the glue.

6 Remove the excess seeds. Once you’re done filling the picture with seeds, let the glue dry completely. Once dry, tilt the background so that any excess seeds slide off the picture. Fill any gaps with glue and more seeds.

7 Show off your artwork! Once your piece is completely dry, display it in your house or give it to a friend.