Pumpkin Seed Mosaic

I came across this while searching for pumpkin related themes and thought this was a great idea for those pumpkin seeds! Usually, in our family we roast them and eat them but not all of us are partial to this pasttime. So, maybe we'll try this after carving our pumpkins this year.

Make your own mosaic ... Don't throw those pumpkin seeds away! Roast a few and paint the rest for a spectacular work of art.

What You Need:

Pumpkin Seeds (clean)
Tempera paint (dark colors)
Paint brush
Shallow container
Thick paper (poster board)
Glue
Pencils
Wax paper or newspaper

What You Do:

Choose a few paint colors.

Put the seeds into a shallow dish, squirt some paint on the seeds and mix the paint around until all seeds are covered in paint. Do this for as many colors as you need.

Spread the seeds out on wax paper (or newspaper) and let dry.

While you are waiting for the seeds to dry, you can draw a picture onto some poster paper. Some ideas include masks, fish or wild designs.

Try to keep it simple, remember, you will be "coloring in" with seeds.

When the seeds are dry, they can be arranged and glued onto the poster paper in the appropriate areas.

***If you are feeling really adventurous, try using plaster instead of glue to create the mosaics.

Work quickly as plaster has a very quick set time. Also, never pour plaster down the sink. Wait for it to dry and throw it in the garbage.

***You can always use dried beans, lentils, popcorn or other types of seeds for this project ... you don't need to use pumpkin seeds. In fact, if you use dried beans, you can leave them in their natural colorful state (black eyed peas, red kidney beans etc).