Create a Symbolic Animal Mosaic Collage

In this activity, you will:

• Explore the use of animals as symbols
• Understand how images are created using mosaic techniques
• Reflect on and explain your creative process

• Multiple Parts

• Paper
• Pencils
• Construction paper in different colors
• Glue sticks

Read About Animal Symbolism

Throughout human history, animals have carried deep symbolic meaning across cultures, religions, and art forms. When we see an eagle soaring in a painting, a serpent coiled in a sculpture, or read about a butterfly in a poem, we immediately sense that the artist is communicating something beyond the animal itself. The artist can be showing courage, danger, transformation, or another idea. In the mosaic shown above, the peacock was probably meant to symbolize immortality. Learning to read and use animal symbolism is a powerful creative skill.

Why Animals Carry Meaning

Humans have lived alongside animals for thousands of years, observing their behaviors, hunting them, domesticating them, and incorporating them into stories and beliefs. Over time, the qualities we observed in animals became shorthand for those same qualities in human life. Some examples of qualities that people might admire include the strength of a lion, the loyalty of a wolf to its pack, or a chameleon’s ability to change color. Symbolism is not random. It emerges from real observations about how animals live, move, and survive.

Plan Your Project

Before picking up scissors and glue, take time to plan. The most meaningful mosaics begin with intention. Start with a clear idea of what you want to communicate and why.

Choose the animal you want to represent that symbolizes an idea that is meaningful to you or someone you know. When you choose an animal for your mosaic, you are connecting with a long tradition of humans finding meaning in the natural world. You can use symbolism that you already know about or create your own.

Questions to help you choose:

• Is there an animal that reminds you of a person you admire or love?
• Is there a quality (bravery, gentleness, patience, curiosity, or anything else) you want to celebrate or honor?
• Is there an animal from your cultural background or family history that carries special meaning?
• Is there an animal whose appearance (color, shape, movement) excites you visually?

Write down the animal you chose.

Then, choose the colors to use in your mosaic. Remember that color can also symbolize different meanings. Red, orange, or yellow can suggest energy or danger. Blue, purple, and green can represent calm or sad. Decide which colors carry the meaning that you want to communicate.

Make a Mosaic

Traditional mosaics use small pieces of tile, glass, or stone pressed into mortar to create images. Ancient Romans created stunning floor and wall mosaics that still exist today. In this project, you’ll recreate that same technique using colored construction paper and glue.

Trace from a book or image, or draw an outline of the animal you selected on a white sheet of paper. Make sure the animal fills the page.

Select construction paper in the colors you planned to use. Cut the paper into thin strips, and then cut it again in the other direction to make small squares. Think about how the squares might fit together as you lay them out on your paper and glue them down. In some areas that are too small to fill with a square, you might need to cut it even smaller or into a different shape.

After you fill the animal outline with glued-down paper shapes, repeat the process for the surrounding background, using different colors to create contrast between the animal and the background. Continue until the entire sheet of paper is covered with a mosaic paper design.

Share Your Mosaic

Share your design with someone else by giving a short presentation that answers the following questions:

• Why did you choose this animal and what does it symbolize?
• What did the creation process involve?
• What part of making your mosaic did you enjoy the most? Why?
• What was the most difficult part about making the mosaic? Do you think ancient artists experienced this same challenge? Why or why not?

A style of art that uses objects, colors, or images to represent deeper ideas or feelings instead of showing everything realistically.