Paint Azulejo tiles
You’ll need
- A4 card
- Coloured pens or pencils
- Pens or pencils
- Paint
- Paint brushes
- Rulers
- Ceramic tiles (optional)
- Ceramic Paint (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’ll have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents and carers to help.
The World Scout Moot is a global event for Scouts and Guides aged 18 to 25. It's held every four years in different countries, bringing young people together to make new friends, discover new cultures and enjoy exciting adventures.
The next Moot will be held in Portugal in 2025. The event has three parts: a semi-independent expedition, a large camp with Scouts from around the world and a special experience after the main event. Portugal’s a beautiful country in Southern Europe, known for its fascinating history, stunning beaches and warm weather. This year’s participants will have the chance to explore Lisbon’s historic streets, relax by the sea and take part in outdoor activities, such as hiking and surfing. Learn more about the 16th World Scout Moot.
Planning and setting up this activity
- Have some examples of a completed Azulejos design or a painted version of the design for people to use as references. Make sure everyone has one to refer to, so this can help them understand the patterns and style of Azulejo art.
Running this activity
- Gather everyone together and ask if anyone knows what Azulejos is.
- Azulejos are beautiful painted tin-glazed ceramic tiles found in Portugal. These tiles are often found on buildings across the country. Some are used to tell stories or show important moments in history.
- Azulejos were brought to Portugal from Spain and influenced by Arabic art. You could show everyone an example of Azulejos, such as pictures.
- Traditional Azulejos use blue and white colours (or bright colours). They often have detailed symmetrical patterns and use geometric shapes, such squares and triangles.
- Explain that everyone is going to make their own tile.
- Everyone should think about their design. They may wish to create a pattern or represent a story or something important to them.
- Give out paper and pencils and let people sketch their design first if they want to. This is helpful for any intricate designs.
- Give everyone a tile and ceramic paints. You could also use thick card and acrylic paints.
- Once everyone’s finished decorating the tiles, let them dry.
- Once the tiles are dry, people could share their designs and explain what they were inspired by or why they chose the colours and shapes they used.
- You could put all the tiles together and take a photo. You could also display them on a wall or take them home.
Reflection
This activity was all about exploring the rich history and vibrant art of Azulejos, the beautiful decorative tiles from Portugal. It gave everyone the chance to get creative. Have you seen Azulejos tiles before today? How did you find designing your own Azulejos? Did you enjoy using assorted colours and patterns to express your ideas? Think about what inspired your design, did you try to tell a story, or focus on creating a bold pattern? What else would you like to find out about Azulejos?
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.
To make this activity easier, you can provide templates or stencils for people to use and colour in. You could also use larger tiles or larger squares of paper.
- Make sure that everyone can see any pictures. You may need to enlarge any images. You could provide digital version, so people can use of magnification software. People could also use magnifying glasses, braille versions or large print versions.
- Make sure to have accessible equipment or methods available, such as left-handed tools, tearing instead of cutting out, or thicker materials for easier grip.
- Make sure any equipment is laid out in a way that’s accessible to everyone. There should be space or access for everyone to move around and reach anything needed.
- You could offer templates for those who struggle with designs, give a demonstration of what to do, or provide pre-cut materials.
- Some people might not like how it feels to touch some items or textures, or they may not like getting messy. No-one should be forced to touch something they feel uncomfortable with. They could wear gloves, use another object to interact with the item or find another way to do the activity. Someone else could do that part of the task. For example, someone may not like putting paint on their hands to do handprints, so they could paint directly on the paper instead, use paintbrushes or use paint stamps.
All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.
If you enjoyed this activity, try one of our other Moot 2025 activities.