Sunday morning, two-year-old Anna asked to get out our black bean sensory bin. She spent an hour or so measuring out beans with a teaspoon and pouring them into a measuring cup. The older kids joined her for a while. Pouring and measuring isn’t quite as fascinating for older kids as it is for two-year-olds, so they eventually moved on to making black bean mosaics on the floor – just like we have made rice art in the past. I love the way nine-year-old Emma used the red carpet for her dog’s nose!
Note: beans are only safe for children who will not put anything in their mouths. Try this taste safe sensory play alternative for younger children.
Making Black Bean Mosaic Art
You need glue and cardstock or cardboard for permanent black bean mosaic art, but my kids really enjoyed making temporary art on our rug. Mosaics are easier without glue involved, and my kids quite enjoy making art that isn’t meant to last forever.
Five-year-old Anna spent a very long time gathering but beans Anna had spilled across the floor (those sensory bins for toddlers can get messy!) and turning them into this cute dog:
Lily brought printed-out photos of her artwork to show her kindergarten teacher, and her teacher loved it so much that she is going to do this activity with Lily’s entire class!
This would be a neat activity to try with a package of mixed beans, too!
Have your kids made any mosaic art?
After School Activities for Kids Aged 5-12
The Educators’ Spin On It, Boy Mama Teacher Mama, Mama Smiles, The Measured Mom, Planet Smarty Pants, Relentlessly Fun Deceptively Educational, This Reading Mama Here are some great literacy-themed activities that were shared in last week’s After School linky (today’s post was originally going to be literacy themed; I moved that post to Friday but these are still great posts!)
- Having Fun Writing Sentences from Mosswood Connections
- Matching Word Pairs from Rainy Day Mum
- March Book Picks and Extension Projects for 5 Year Olds from Planet Smarty
- Tips for Building a Better Vocabulary from Royal Little Lambs
- Adjective Nature Walk from Wise Owl Factory
- Free Dolch Preprimer Sight Word Wall Cards from 3 Dinosaurs
Now it’s your turn! Share any activities for kids aged 5-12 years old in this week’s linky! My fellow cohosts and I will pick our favorites to feature next week! We may also pin your post to our After School Activities board on Pinterest!
MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.
That dog is amazing! This just gives me one more reason to love to black beans.
Spilled beans becoming art! Now that is a win-win!
And I can see why Lily’s teacher was impressed – I am blown away by the amazing dog shape she created!
I love how this unplanned, open-ended activity includes children of all different ages exploring and creating side by side!
The mosaics are wonderful and quite impressive!
Great activity. It improves pincer grasp. And lots of fun.
The animals are so beautiful! What a creative use of beans, especially left over from a sensory bin! Good upcycling!!!
Oops, I think I forgot to actually comment. I read, but didn’t comment. I love the simplicity of mosaics and projects like that because you can just let them have fun, and it’s rather relaxing too.
I do that all the time. I agree that this is a great relaxing creative activity.
Lovely collage and the texture must be great as well. Thank you for the mention of our matching pairs.
You’re welcome! I thought that was a great activity!
Lily has created the shape herself? She is SO good!
Yep – she did it all on her own :)
Wow those are really creative! I like that she also used the carpet for the nose :)
Thanks for the feature! xo
Your daughter looked like she was having a lot of fun making her bean mosaic. What a great way to encourage focus and fine motor!