Mosaic Sunshine Collage Art Project
Summer weather!! We love a bit of sun and warmth these days. We’ll take all we can get. This is a great summer project that can be adapted to suit many grade levels. In the example you’ll see a mosaic pattern was used to create the sun. If you have smaller hands who would struggle with this fine motor, you could just have them create the sun with large pieces of construction paper (cut out the circle, cut the rays etc) or you could have them do a larger piece mosaic instead of the rings seen here. Lots of ways to adapt!
Before starting, look at some examples of mosaics, what characteristics do they have? Have students seen mosaics in their daily lives?
This project requires two sessions. You’d be best to do them on separate days but you may be able to make it work if you do step 1 first thing in the morning and step 2 at the end of the day.
Time required:
Step 1 - 25-30 minutes
Step 2 - 45 minutes
Materials Step 1:
Card stock or regular printer weight paper
Foam brush
Liquid glue
Water & bowl
Squares of tissue paper paper (dark and light blue)
Materials Step 2:
Construction paper (yellow and orange - if you have more shades, great!)
Scissors
Glue stick
Pencil
Something round to trace
Teacher prep:
Cut tissue paper into squares. I do this with the big paper cutter and it goes quickly. You’ll want a mix of light and dark blue, or even teal. You’ll see my sample background colour is different than my students’ projects, just use what you have!
Right before starting, you’ll need to mix up a glue mixture. Mostly glue with just a tiny bit of water to thin it out.
Step 1:
Using your sponge brush, apply a thin layer of the glue mixture onto a small section of your card stock.
Now lay pieces of tissue paper onto the card stock one at a time. They can overlap, but we don’t want thick sections. Go slow, if you go too fast you’ll end up ripping the paper.
Dip your sponge brush back into the glue mixture and seal your pieces down. The tissue paper should look shiny. It can go over the edge, we’ll trim it before starting step 2.
Now continue onto another section, glue mixture on card stock first, then apply tissue paper, then seal it.
Continue until the background is fully filled.
Set aside to dry.
Step 2:
*This step requires your background to be dry.
If you haven’t already, trim any excess tissue from the edges of your paper.
Find something round to trace. I used this little pail but you can use anything. You could have stencils or have students find something in the class to trace.
Cut thin strips of the yellow and orange paper. Now cut it into little squares or rectangles. Prepare a little pile of each so you’re ready.
Start with one colour and glue the little pieces all the way around the circle. You can wipe each piece on the glue or, to make it faster, you can spread a little glue on the circle line and place a few onto the glue.
Once the first circle is complete, get your other colour and make another ring on the inside.
Continue alternating colours to make rings to the centre.
Use the same mosaic tiles to make the sun rays.
IMPORTANT TIP
Most of my students had success and they look like suns but those whose projects sort of look like confetti tiles on a page all had the same problem, spacing. Model for your students how to arrange the tiles and ensure they are putting them CLOSE together in the rings. If they are just sort of wherever it’s going to be hard to distinguish what shape is being made. I also suggest doing fewer sun rays so that they are easily distinguishable.
Check out more spring art projects
