Make a mosaic flowerpot
You’ll need
- Scissors
- Pens and pencils
- A4 paper
- Paint brush or glue stick
- PVA glue
- Tray
- Items to kame mosaic
- Safety glasses and gloves
- Safe grout (optional)
Before you begin
- Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. There's also more guidance to help you carry out your risk assessment, including examples.
- Make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely.
- Make sure you have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents and carers to help.
Planning and setting up this activity
- You may wish to run this activity outside if it’ll be messy or put something down to protect surfaces and floors.
- You could set up tables with resources for each group, letting them have a selection of items to choose from.
Running this activity
- Gather everyone around and ask them if they know what a mosaic is. You could see if anyone has seen one before. Mosaics come from Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, and they’re usually made up of tiles. Mosaics are used to decorate surfaces, such as floors, and often make a pattern. Sometimes they can also be pictures, such as portraits of people. The design is permeant, as the items are usually glued or cemented down. Mosaics can also be made up of a wide variety of materials, such as glass, ceramics, tiles, card, stones or pebbles, and even shells. Today, we can usually see mosaic tiles daily in home showers, floors and kitchens.
- Give everyone paper and pencils, then let people draw out a design idea to make into a mosaic. You may wish to have some templates available for people who wish to use them.
- There are lots of different things you could make with mosaics and lots of ways to make them. Some ideas include:
- Painting lasagne sheets, breaking them gently into shapes, then gluing them on thick card.
- Creating a mosaic from cut out squares of coloured paper or card – you could make a bookmark, gift card or artwork.
- Gluing smooth, pre-cut craft tiles to make a coaster or decorate a flowerpot.
- Using square stickers to create a mosaic on paper.
- Colouring in a mosaic design with crayons, chalk, felt tips or pencils.
- Cutting out magazine shapes and squares in different colours, then gluing them down.
- Dying rice or beans different colours, then gluing them down.
- Using iron-down beads to make patterns, then an adult securing them carefully with an iron.
- Pressing safe craft or natural items into air-dry clay, with the clay also being shaped.
- Depending on what you’ve used, it’s purpose and where it’s meant to go, such as indoors or outdoors, you may wish to cover your finished mosaic with a sealant. This can protect the design and can help waterproof it, especially if it goes outside.
- If you’re using tiles, stones or glass, always wear safety glasses and gloves, and you may need to use safe grout.
Reflection
In this activity everyone used their imagination and creative skills to decorate a mosaic flowerpot. This activity helped everyone to be patient and to focus as you had to carefully assemble the mosaic pieces. What design did you make? Did your design represent anything or have a meaning to you?
We also leant about taking care of the environment, as we can use the pots to plant flowers, herbs or even a little tree. How can you use your pot to help the environment? What else could you do to help the environment?
Safety
All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.
You must run your activities in line with the Safeguarding Code of Conduct for Adults (Yellow Card) and report any concerns to the UK HQ Safeguarding Team.
- Scissors
Supervise young people appropriately when they’re using scissors. Store all sharp objects securely, out of the reach of young people.
- Glue and solvents
Always supervise young people appropriately when they’re using glue and solvent products. Make sure there’s plenty of ventilation. Be aware of any medical conditions that could be affected by glue or solvent use and make adjustments as needed.
- Craft: Unusual substances
Supervise young people appropriately when they’re using unusual substances, such as powdered paint, ash or dirt. Be aware of any medical conditions that could be affected by what’s being used. Make sure you follow all relevant safety guidance or manufacturers guidelines, where available. Make sure you dispose of it appropriately too, in line with safety guidance.
- Hot tools
Tools, such as irons and glue guns, produce a lot of heat. Never touch the hot metal parts. Use them under adult supervision and on a suitable surface, protecting it if necessary. Never leave hot tools unattended and be careful near combustible materials such as wood, textiles, or paper. Make sure there’s a fire extinguisher and a first aid kit (with items to treat burns) nearby. Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions for proper use. You may need to use gloves and safety goggles with glue guns.
To make this craft easier, you could pre-cut some of each item and sort them by colours before the session. You could also have some pre-designed templates for people to use or examples for them to copy.
Make it accessible
All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.
