Home » Children's Activity » Sensory Wall Mosaic Art for Kids = Math Learning for Kids

Sensory Wall Mosaic Art for Kids = Math Learning for Kids

This no-mess sensory play activity for children doubles as a fantastic opportunity to learn math through art. Children learn to observe geometric shapes and angles as they create temporary mosaic art. Find more fun ways to teach kids math.

Mosaic Art for Kids = Math Learning for Kids

Some links on this site are affiliate links and I may earn a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you! Learn more.

Math Art Play Activity for Children: Sensory Wall Mosaic Art

Following the huge success of our pattern blocks on contact paper play, I decided to try putting it all up on our wall.

pattern blocks wall art

Emma helped me use masking tape to place several feet of contact paper sticky side out. We then used foam blocks and pattern blocks to create mosaics on our dining room wall!

Wooden pattern blocks make for an incredible visual and sensory experience! This type of art activity helps kids understand the relationships between different shapes and geometric angles. Pattern blocks also offer wonderful opportunities to explore symmetry.

sensory play activity for children: sensory wall mosaic art

The small foam blocks we used are great for writing names, adding a nice literacy element to this activity:

sensory mosaic for kids

The foam blocks were also easier for the kids to stick on, since they are light weight. You have to sort of press the pattern blocks on for them to stay.

Once up, both foam blocks and pattern blocks stay for hours (it’s been over 48 hours now, and they’ve remained stuck to our wall without any trouble). At first, I worried that the contact paper might ruin the wooden blocks, but it doesn’t seem to be cause any trouble.

sensory mosaic for kids

Johnny especially loved the feel of the soft foam stuck to the contact paper – all the more since we had the blocks spelling out his and Emma’s names!

sensory mosaic for kids

We’ll leave this up for a few more days – it’s fun to play with, and beautiful to look at!

Why Choose A Sensory Activity Like This?

Simple activities like this one are wonderful for breaking up rainy days and resetting grumpy days. Here are a few other fun sensory play activities for children that I recommend:

Do you have a favorite sensory play activity for children that we should try? How about a fun way to learn math?

More Fun Math Activities

This post is part of Karyn Tripp’s Amazing Math Art Projects for Kids Book Launch. You’ll find more great math art ideas in her book!

Share comments and feedback below, on my Facebook page, or by tagging me on InstagramSign up for my newsletter to receive book recommendations, crafts, activities, and parenting tips in your inbox every week.

MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.

53 thoughts on “Sensory Wall Mosaic Art for Kids = Math Learning for Kids”

  1. Thank you, I love this! Were they able to remove and restick pieces to make new designs
    each day? I have 18 Kinders and know that they would love to move the designs
    around. I already have plastic wooden pattern blocks but would purchase the light
    foam blocks if they could be pulled off and reused on the same sticky paper over a few
    days. I also have small coloured wooden blocks and will try those as well. I have done this with nature materials on a table and it is awesome.

    1. They were able to move the pieces around, with no trouble! The paper does slowly become less sticky over time as little hands touch it over and over. :)

  2. This is such a neat idea. I am going to try it on the wall in my preschool classroom, but I am going to try it with velcro.

  3. What is also so very cool about this activity is that by placing it on the vertical service of the wall you are encouraging good wrist extension and development which plays a crucial role in handwriting skills later on. It encourages a correct pencil grip and will discourage a weak wrist that can result in the “hooked over” hand position during writing seen in so many kids. Little do they know that they are working on these skills while they are having so much fun.

    1. I hadn’t even thought about that, but I can see how it could help with developing handwriting skills! Thanks for the insight!!!

  4. Carolyn Wilhelm

    Wonderful! Your children are so lucky to be able to do things like this. People who read your blog are mmotivated to try somethng similar. Very nice, Carolyn

    1. Contact paper is vinyl (or something like vinyl?) that is sticky on one side and not on the other. Ours is clear, but it comes in different colors and patterns as well. I think it used to be a popular shelf liner. We’ve bought it from Staples and Amazon before. =)

  5. All your posts with contact paper has inspired me and I’ve just done a craft supplies order and put some on (well sticky back plastic as we call it in the UK) I love this idea and what a great sensory wall as well – especially with their names on.

    Thank you for linking up to Tuesday Tots this week and I look forward to seeing your ideas next week :D

  6. How great is this! I actually got rid of my pattern blocks because they were so frustrating… Looks like it might be time for a re-purchase :)

  7. Great idea to make the leap from table top to wall!! When I saw the tabletop version the other day, I thought you’d used the new sticky cling wrap… Press’n’Seal. Would probably work on the table, but not on the wall. (And I can’t think of the prices to figure out which would be more economical.)

    1. Ooh now I’m tempted to pull out our Press’n’Seal to see if it would work as a tabletop version! For length, I’m pretty sure it would be more economical, but it isn’t as wide as contact paper. It’s definitely less sticky…

  8. This is awesome! I think it would be fun to do a nature collage this way sometime with pressed flowers and plants.

    1. No problems – for the wood pattern blocks either (which I had worried about a little). Contact paper uses a very gentle adhesive. Maybe it would cause problems if you left them up for a long time, say, over a week? The foam blocks fell off sometimes, but I think that was because the kids were barely sticking them in place – the ones I stuck on are still there today, as are some of the ones the kids put up. None of the wooden pattern blocks fell down on their own.

  9. What a fantastic idea! I’ll definitely be trying this once we get some new contact paper. (Sadly, we can’t buy it here, so it’s one of the things we stock up on during our summer holidays!)

Comments are closed.

Scroll to Top