Kids Art Ideas: Clay and Egg Shell Mosaic

Sometimes I will have an idea for a creative project that I am not sure about ~ will it work the way I imagine it to? And this project was definitely one of those! I wanted to find a simple way of creating mosaic with young children. Something more substantial than paper or fabric on paper, an experience which engaged children in the process of creating by fitting together small pieces. Colours, shapes, textures ~ experimenting with 3D materials in a mosaic type form. The answer it seemed was hidden…

…in a tub of freshly dyed egg shell.

I rolled out a flat slab of clay onto a baking tray and then Immy worked away quietly to fit together the bright, colourful pieces of egg shell, pushing them into the surface of the clay. Sometimes they crushed slightly as she pressed, after all egg shell isn’t flat. The trick seemed to be to apply firm, even pressure. It really was a quiet, focused activity.

The finished piece looks quite spectacular…interesting even…

I am not sure how durable it will be. I imagine it would need to be lacquered in some way if we are to keep it, to help keep all the pieces in place. But it really isn’t that important, as this experiment was really about the process ~ doing, experimenting, touching, exploring. Seeing how materials work together. Looking at colour. Talking about textures and processes. Which is really what is most important about children’s art making experiences anyway.

If you are looking for more inspiration for engaging children in open ended art making experiences,check out my award winning book, Time to Create: Hands On Explorations in Process Art for Young Children.

Christie Burnett is an early childhood teacher, presenter, writer and the editor of Childhood 101. More importantly, she is a Mum who believes wholeheartedly in the value of children learning through play, the importance of quality early education, and the togetherness of family.

Read more of Christie's adventures at https://childhood101.com.

Read the comments or scroll down to add your own:

Marita says
May 18, 2011 at 6:11 PM

Ooooh what a cool project and a fun way to recycle egg shells :D
- Christie Burnett says
  May 18, 2011 at 9:50 PM
  
  Thanks Marita :)
Bev says
May 18, 2011 at 6:49 PM

this looks awesome cant wait for my twin boys to try this and see how they turn out :) thanks
- Christie Burnett says
  May 18, 2011 at 9:50 PM
  
  Thank you, Bev. I hope they enjoy it :)
kitchencounterchronicles says
May 18, 2011 at 9:04 PM

Great idea! What a wonderful way to use those old dyed Easter eggs...give them a whole new life.
Roopa(Putti amma) says
May 18, 2011 at 10:32 PM

Had seen egg shell collage glued onto cardstock, but this so unique! Love it..
Natalie says
May 19, 2011 at 1:14 PM

I was thinking of doing something similar with Easter egg shells, but eventually we decided to keep them (they were blown out). Our latest unusual medium was drawing on hands as we learned about hand designs of Morocco.
- Christie Burnett says
  May 21, 2011 at 9:06 AM
  
  Your hand designs are an awesome idea, Natalie.
Kirrily says
May 19, 2011 at 6:36 PM

This does look so enticing! My daughter saw it on my laptop as I was reading... looks like we'll be doing it in the near future. Lately, she has been loving painting on cardboard (insides of boxes I have cut into rectangle or square shapes, big canvasses they are). I also have a piece of blockout fabric that I know she is going to really love the texture of. Will save that for a sunny day and set her easel up outside on the deck for that one. Where do you get your clay?
- Christie Burnett says
  May 21, 2011 at 9:03 AM
  
  Our clay is a Crayola air dry one. I actually got it at Spotlight.
Catherine says
May 21, 2011 at 3:04 PM

What a lovely idea using the egg shell in clay rather than gluing them onto paper. It's hard to not want to keep everything that they make but like you said it's often the process not the product that is important, sometimes a photo is a good alternative to keeping the object too. Have a great weekend.
Darcey says
May 23, 2011 at 3:15 AM

This is a great idea! It came out really cool. the kids I've worked with loved doing art projects with different textures. I've linked up to your post here: http://play2grow.blogspot.com/2011/05/weekly-favorites-for-may-22-2011.html
- Christie Burnett says
  May 24, 2011 at 10:25 PM
  
  Thank you for including it in your list, Darcey, it was nice to explore a different use of the clay.
Cait says
December 30, 2011 at 6:28 PM

What did you use to stain the eggshell?
Maureen says
March 17, 2013 at 5:31 AM

Looks great. Did you let it airdry or put it in a kiln?
Ginny Berry says
October 15, 2014 at 3:48 AM

I'm currently doing a similar project with a year 3 class at school - except we're using shells that the children have brought in from the local beach and then crushed in class. Is working really well.....
- Christie Burnett says
  October 16, 2014 at 5:23 PM
  
  That sounds fabulous, Ginny, great idea :)

Trackbacks

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July 3, 2011 at 5:10 AM

[...] Earth Mosaics – This was a great project for bible day. The boys colored pictures in the morning and we talked about how God made the heavens and the earth. Then in the afternoon we made our earth project. This is definitely a keepsake project. [...]
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April 2, 2014 at 6:43 AM

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April 3, 2014 at 7:11 PM

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Kids Art Ideas: Clay and Egg Shell Mosaic

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