Create. Count. Trace. Write. Kids practice fine motor skills while creating a fun mosaic with Lego blocks. Get the free spring Lego mosaic printable.

When spring comes around kids tend to get a little restless and school crazy. Young ones especially have a hard time concentrating on their schoolwork. While you may just let them loose to run around outside like maniacs, sometimes you still want them to work on a few key academic skills.

These printables are a fun way to add a little novelty to your homeschool. Did you know that novelty actually helps kids learn? Our brain perks up and pays more attention to information that is presented in a novel way. So instead of hammering into the same workbook they have been doing all year, find some fun new ways for your kids to practice the skills they are working on.

This printable includes a color version of each picture and a black and white version. If your kids are young, let them use the colored versions first. After they get used to the activities, they may enjoy using the black and white and getting creative with their own color combinations.

Laminating this printable is not necessary, but if you want to use them over and over again, it will be worth the ink you will save by not needing to reprint. To use a laminated version, just get a fine tipped dry erase marker for the writing and counting parts of project.

Kids like having choices, let them pick which one of the designs they want to do each day. Don’t worry if they keep picking the same one over and over again, if they are enjoying it they are most likely learning something. Once it is too easy for them, they will move on.

If you are very concerned about the repetition, encourage them to pick a new one the next day by gently encouraging them to move on. “You are really an expert at that flower mosaic. Do you think you may want the challenge of doing a different design, tomorrow?” This gives them time to process the idea that maybe it is time to move on. But if they still pick up the flower the next day, let them. Don’t worry, if there brain wasn’t busy learning something as they work on that flower design, they would get bored and move on.

These cards help with visual spatial reasoning skills, quantifying (number sense), and word recognition, writing, and spelling.

Steps for using the Spring Lego Mosaic Printable

1. Have the child read the word, or read it to them if they don’t read yet.
2. Have them trace the word, saying the sound or name of each letter as they trace. (Saying the sound is better for kids just learning letter sounds, kids who are already reading, can say the letter name, which will help them learn the spelling of the word.)
3. Encourage them to write the word as beautifully as they can on the blank line.
4. Next have them count how many blocks of each color they will need. They can fill in the number on the printable and then find the blocks. (For older students you can turn these printables into a multiplication lesson by having them multiply the number of dots on each Lego by the number of the block size and have them write down the total number of Lego dots for each color.)
5. Tip: If you are using the black and white printables and letting the child choose their own colors, let them build the design before filling in the counting section.
6. Have your child build the design on top of the paper, using it as a pattern.
7. Encourage older kids to them move their design to a flat Lego plate, using the design as their pattern.
8. You can take the challenge even further for older kids by giving them one minute to look at the pattern, turning it over, and then seeing if they can reproduce the pattern without peaking.

Kids love repetition and you can reuse materials like these for many years, as long as you adapt it, adding a new level a challenge each year.