Mosaics are a great creative medium for kids. An easy art form to grasp and one that’s been around for thousands of years. They can make for a very considered activity involving counting and planning – suitable for a range of learning activities.

The Mosaic Maker is a free web based activity we’ve built for designing mosaics and tessellations. Our aim was to build a fun versatile design tool for children that encourages exploration and experimentation. It’s simple enough for all primary year groups to use and has proven useful in developing mouse control in younger children.

There are over 50 shapes to play with so that as a child’s confidence and ability grows, they have the building blocks to construct more complex patterns.

Very simple to use – select a tile and colour, then start drawing on the grid. You can rotate the tiles by pressing the space bar or clicking repeatedly on a tile when you select it.

We’ve had some great feedback on it’s use in a range of lessons and after school clubs. We were also thrilled with reports of good engagement from children with autism and ADHD.

Whether you’re wanting to design a Roman mosaic in KS2, tessellations and repeating patterns in Maths or just want a creative activity to get the juices flowing. We hope you’ll find this activity a useful addition to your lesson plans and after school clubs!

Mosaic and Tessellation Gallery