Bean Mosaic: Fall Leaf Project

A fall bean mosaic is a fall picture, like this autumn leaf, made by gluing dried beans and split peas onto cardboard. Outline the leaf in black beans, add green split pea veins, fill it with red kidney beans and yellow split peas, then cover the background in white beans. Ours came together over 2 days of on-and-off gluing.

Last updated: October 18, 2026. Facts checked against the sources listed at the end of this article.

Have you ever made a bean mosaic? I hadn’t, but I had seen them and kept the idea tucked in the back of my mind. Mosaics are fun to make- relaxing; rhythmic. I like to think they help promote patience in kids, but I have nothing to back that up with…

Here I’ll show you how to make a mosaic using dried beans and legumes in the form of a lovely fall leaf. I even have a printout you can download if you or your kids don’t want to draw your own leaf.

Fen and I worked on this like a jigsaw puzzle, sort of coming and going over the course of 2 days, adding beans whenever the mood struck.

 

Bean Mosaic

Materials: 

• Piece of cardboard
• Glue (we used Aleene’s Tacky Glue)
• Printout of leaf (or you can draw your own)
• Beans and legumes (we used green and yellow split peas, white beans, kidney beans and black beans)

How do you make a bean mosaic?

You make a bean mosaic by gluing a leaf outline to cardboard, then filling it in with beans one color at a time:

1. Glue the leaf printout (or your own leaf drawing) onto the cardboard and let it dry completely.
2. Outline the leaf and an inner border with black beans, laying down a fat line of glue and adding the beans one by one.
3. Add the leaf veins with green split peas.
4. Fill the leaf with kidney beans at the bottom, yellow split peas at the top and a mix of both in the middle.
5. Cover the background with white beans, gluing lines from the leaf out toward the border.
6. Finish with an outside border of kidney beans.

Which bean goes where in the fall leaf mosaic

Bean	Color	Where it went
Black beans	Black	Leaf outline and inner border
Green split peas	Green	Leaf veins
Kidney beans	Dark red	Bottom of the leaf and outside border
Yellow split peas	Yellow	Top of the leaf
White beans	White	Background

Here is how ours went, with photos.

Directions:

Gather your beans and glue the leaf printout onto the cardboard. We used Mod Podge, since I can’t stand using Elmer’s on paper. Let it dry completely. Alternatively, if your child is feeling adventurous, let them draw a leaf onto a piece of paper and glue it onto the cardboard. Add in a border line if so desired.

We started by using the black beans to outline the leaf and the border. Lay down a nice fat line of glue and add the beans, one by one.

Next we added in some leaf veins with green split peas.

We filled in the leaf with red at the bottom, yellow at the top, and a mixture in the middle.

Now for the great expanse of background… we globbed out lines of glue starting around the leaf and working out toward the border.

We ended up using about half the bottle of glue. For reals.

Here’s the finished bean mosaic, and check out the fancy outside border!

 

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a bean mosaic?

A bean mosaic is a picture or pattern made by gluing dried beans and split peas side by side onto a stiff base such as cardboard. It borrows the idea of a traditional mosaic, which the Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus describes as images or patterns made of small, regularly shaped pieces of durable material, usually stone or colored glass.

How can I make a homemade bean mosaic?

Draw or print a simple outline, glue it to cardboard, then fill each area with a different color of dried bean, gluing them on one by one. For a version without glue, WheatonArts (Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center) presses dried beans deep into salt dough rolled at least 3/4 inch thick, then lets the dough dry.

What beans are best for a fall bean mosaic?

Pick beans in fall colors that contrast clearly with each other. Dark red kidney beans, yellow and green split peas, black beans for outlines and white beans for the background all worked well in this leaf. Small split peas are handy for narrow spots like leaf veins, and bigger beans cover the background faster.

What glue should you use for a bean mosaic?

A thick, tacky craft glue is a good choice for a bean mosaic. We used Aleene’s Tacky Glue for the beans, laying down a fat line and pressing beans in one at a time, and Mod Podge to stick the paper leaf onto the cardboard. The whole mosaic used about half a bottle of glue.

What are mosaics made of?

Traditional mosaics are made of tesserae, which the Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus defines as small, squarish pieces of colored marble, glass, stone or tile. A bean mosaic swaps those for dried beans and split peas, which are cheap, come in lots of natural colors and are easy to glue onto cardboard.

How about a delicious-looking bean soup recipe for all of those leftovers?

Sources

• Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus, “mosaics (visual works)” (images or patterns of small, regularly shaped pieces of durable material, usually stone or colored glass). Read October 18, 2026.
• Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus, “tesserae (mosaic components)” (small, squarish pieces of colored marble, glass, stone or tile used in making mosaics). Read October 18, 2026.
• WheatonArts (Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center), Salt Dough Bean Mosaic (beans pressed into salt dough at least 3/4 inch thick, then dried). Read October 18, 2026.

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