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.
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Math Art Play Activity for Children: Sensory Wall Mosaic Art
What You'll Find on This Page
Following the huge success of our pattern blocks on contact paper play, I decided to try putting it all up on our wall.
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.
The small foam blocks we used are great for writing names, adding a nice literacy element to this activity:
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.
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!
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:
- Spring Flower Sensory Play
- Light Table Play
- Simple and Affordable Sensory Table Solution
- Instant Glitter Play Dough
- Making Gak
- Magnet Sensory Bin
- Summer Sensory Play
- DIY Sandbox
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
Shop Ideas for Kids
Fun ways for kids to play at shopping from the comfort of your home, plus skills they are learning through play.
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!
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MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.
Love this fun idea! Thanks for joining in the Math Art series!
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.
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. :)
What an awesome idea! I think I might have some wall space left in the kitchen…
What a great idea!!!!
Thank you! :)
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.
Velcro would be a lot of fun!
What an awesome idea! Thanks for sharing this, my boys will love it!
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.
I hadn’t even thought about that, but I can see how it could help with developing handwriting skills! Thanks for the insight!!!
Oh, I love this activity! Currently obsessed with contact paper…
:-)
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
Thank you!
I pinned this earlier this week but had to comment and let you know how much I love this!! Such a great idea!
Thank you for pinning, and I’m so glad you liked this idea!
I love this idea so clever!
What is contact paper and where do I get some from? Brilliant, have already pinned this!
Thanks for linking to Family Frolics
Kerry
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. =)
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
Hooray!!! Can’t wait to see what you do with it, once it arrives =)
Such a fabulous idea. I love taking everyday “toys” and playing with them in innovative ways. This is such a creative way to use the pattern blocks. You have inspired us to give this a go.
MaryAnne, You are just the coolest mom!! I seriously aspire to be more like you. I love this idea!
This is a pretty neat idea – and it looks very nice too!
This is so clever and looks beautiful.I am sure the kids had such fun.
You have the best ideas!!!
Thank you!!! :D
Awesome idea!!! My kids would love this!
Wow, that is even COOLER! How long will the contact paper stay sticky, do you think? Will you have to keep on changing it?
Thanks! I think the contact paper gets a little less sticky every day, so maybe it’ll last a week?
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 :)
I think they are much funner, this way =)
Love it on the wall! What a fun ever changing visual art piece!
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.)
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…
This is such a fun idea- we are going to have to try this! I shared it on FB but it wouldn’t let me tag ya!
Thank you for sharing my post on Facebook! We have had so much fun with this activity!!!
How awesome!! Now I wish we had a set of pattern blocks. I cut out some foam shapes, and I think that could work well too for those who don’t have pattern blocks.
That would definitely work – great solution!
Great idea for make old new and upping the fun!!!
That’s a great idea!
MaryAnne, this is awesome. We are totally doing this!
Your girls will have a blast – and so will you! =)
I love this! What a fun way to display your little ones creations in the home :)
This is awesome! I think it would be fun to do a nature collage this way sometime with pressed flowers and plants.
That would be fantastic! We’ll have to try this spring :)
Did it cause problems for the foam blocks? It would seem like it might cause small tears in them.
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.
Brilliant! My kiddos would love this! I must try it!
I bet they would come up with some fantastic designs!!!
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!)
Beautiful! Such a fun and thoughtful mama
What an awesome idea. And it really is pretty.