Exploring Colour, Symmetry and Light with "Glass" Tiles

Today's craft was inspired by my love of a place in Singapore called Kampong Glam, a neighbourhood with Malay and Middle Eastern influence.  Along its streets are rows and rows of shops selling jewellery, rugs, lamps, fabrics and coloured glass tiles - all with intricate patterns, bright colours and a variety of textures.  I wondered how we could re-create some of this beauty through our crafts and a craft that a 2.5 year old could do.

I managed to get hold of an egg carton that carries 30 eggs and I cut it into squares (so that there are 9 egg holders to every tile).  I will use the other 3 tiles for a Singaporean Shophouse tile project that I have planned tomorrow.  I coloured this tile in white paint so that the tissue paper would easily shine through.  Meanwhile I cut out squares of blue and red coloured transparent paper and squares of tin foil (the tiles I've seen have a combination of coloured glass and mirrors in them) and I thought it would be nice for Wugs to handle a different material other than the coloured paper.  As Wugs would also be sticking the paper to the carton, I made some child-friendly glue using 30g of cornstarch and 150ml of water.  I added some of the water to the cornstarch and stirred it around to remove all of the lumps.  Then I placed it into a saucepan on a low heat and kept stirring the mixture until it boiled.  Once that had cooled down we started to add the glue to the egg carton with a brush.  I found it easier to cover the egg carton with glue before adding the paper as the paper tends to get stuck to the brush and hands and can be frustrating and distracting.

What we used:

Egg carton 

White paint

Blue and red coloured transparent "sweet wrapper" paper

Tin foil

Cornstarch Glue

I found this craft a little challenging for a 2.5 year old as it involves creating symmetry and balance.  Wugs did so in terms of adding the tin foil squares, but I think a child of 4 years or older would appreciate it better.  Having said that, Wugs enjoyed sticking and using the brush to spread the glue and appreciated the reflectiveness of the tin foil.