Because seeds come in such a wide array of colors, sizes and textures, they are great for creating mosaics and collages. You may want to use a collection of seeds that are already mixed, maybe seeds leftover from another activity, like rain sticks. You could also take the time to open several containers of seeds and look at each type. Compare the seeds to the plants they grow into, as well as to each other. Either way, the variety of seeds gives a great opportunity to introduce a multitude of descriptive words, as well as the concept of comparing and contrasting.
To make the mosaics, you can take your pick of these two ways. The first is the standard Elmer’s glue method. I like to put the paper on an art tray to control the strays, and provide a jar lid of glue and a paintbrush to make it easier for the children to control how much glue they use and where it ends up. The children can apply the glue and then select their seeds from a nearby container and sprinkle them where they’d like.
(For smaller seeds, using an empty shaker container may work even better.)
Another way is to use clear Contact paper. Tape the top side of the paper to your art tray, and then peel off the back paper, so that it is sticky side up.
As the children sprinkle their seeds, they stick to the Contact paper. When they’re done, spread another sheet on top, and seal it on the edges. (It seals best when there is a clear border to adhere to. When I do this again, I think I would trace a 1 inch border around on the smooth side of the bottom Contact paper, so that the children could try to avoid that area.) Trust me, the finished product looks cooler in person than my meager photography skills have captured here!
Seed mosaics encourage the children to notice and talk about the different characteristics of the seeds. This feeds the math and science skills of observation and categorization as well as language skills as they discover new words to describe their experiences. Fine motor skills are developed as they pick up and place the seeds. And of course, creativity is fostered as they make their own unique work of art!
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