When I was little, my great-grandmother’s kitchen had a framed mosaic made entirely of colorful corn and various beans. When I was a kid it always inspired me to want to make my own colorful corn mosaics. So this week, I finally did it with the girls (ages 4 and 2)! These mosaics would be a great addition to your harvest or harvest grateful theme.
Small parts and fine motor skills
Only basic materials are needed to create corn mosaic art. But it also requires a lot of patience and flexibility, two challenges for little hands. Small cornflakes are great for increasing the grip of your pliers, while squeezing out glue builds hand and finger strength. Exercising these small muscles helps with writing, tying your shoes, and other important life skills.
Corn mosaic craft art
It’s always a great experience doing arts and crafts with kids and seeing where their developmental levels and imaginations (which are much freer than ours) will take them. These art experiences allow children to explore materials and their own ideas.
supplies
- 6 cups colorful corn (plain popcorn, vinegar, water, food coloring, ziplock bag)
- Sorting pallets
- glue
- Cardboard or other heavy paper
To create a colorful corn mosaic, coloring the corn is the most time-consuming part. I recommend preparing it at least two days before you plan to use it to allow adequate drying time. Place 1 cup corn, 1 cup warm water, 2-3 tablespoons vinegar, and 20-30 drops food coloring in a ziplock bag. The corn needs time to absorb the color, so I recommend soaking it overnight. Then, drain the liquid from the corn and lay out on a cookie sheet lined with paper towels to dry for 6 more hours. Note: One cup of corn is a large amount, enough for 12-15 preschoolers to make mosaics.
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Once the corn is dry, place it in sorting trays. Give each child a bottle of glue and a piece of cardstock and let them create as much as they like. The only instruction was to take pictures with colored corn. To make it stick, kids need to apply glue and then place the corn on top of the glue.
For Lil’ M (age 2), we are working on color recognition. She still says everything is yellow or purple. For her, this project was about using her independence to make her own glue and identifying the various colors of corn as she applied it. She doesn’t need help or intervention.
For Big M (age 4), she turned it into an exercise about shapes, asking for help outlining her designated large shapes with glue and then decorating them with colored corn. You can also encourage children to create patterns, or take a slightly more structured approach and provide images for them to use. Kids can also lightly draw shapes or patterns with a pencil before applying glue.
And, I must admit, I had some fun myself!
Introduction: Meghan is a former hedge fund professional turned SAHM owner of Big M (4), Lil’ M (2) and Baby M (1 month). She writes on Playground Parkbench, sharing family activities for kids, parenting tips, and financial literacy for home executives. Find her on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, twitter!
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