Children's Christmas Mosaics

Here's a simple children's activity for making some pretty decorations with a mosaic theme. I did this activity at an art and craft fair at the weekend and found that children from 3 upwards really enjoyed it and got absorbed in it. More mosaic activities for kids to make as presents coming up next week too!

You need:

- Foam glitter sheets (if you can't get these, buy some ordinary foam, cover with glue then glitter and allow to dry). The foam gives it depth so it looks more like a mosaic but you could always use glitter paper too.
- glue
- card
- scissors

1. Cut the foam glitter sheets into small pieces - a variety of triangles, 5 sided and square shapes is good

2. Draw an outline of a Christmas symbol onto card. We did stars and candles but any simple design will be good (holly, Christmas pud, snowflakes...). If you are doing this with a group, you can photocopy to save time.

3. Stick pieces of glitter foam onto the shape (our glitter foam had a sticky back but a glue stick will do the job). If the children are old enough, they can use scissors to cut shapes to fit tricky spots.

4. Two important tips to help make it look like a mosaic: firstly, line up the edge of each piece with the edge of the picture so that you create a defined line around the shape. Secondly, leave a small gap between pieces.

5. When you have filled the whole space, allow to dry then cut round the outline of the shape and hang!

You can make the effect of the mosaic even better by using black card so that the black background shows through the gaps and doing both sides if you want it to twirl round.

Have fun!