General Guidelines:

• Identify learners’ language level (A1 to C2) and adapt the game rules accordingly, based on the PDF version.
• Prepare your materials:Use the online version for group work on a screen. Use the printed version for more tactile, interactive work.
• Plan an introduction to the vocabulary or expressions featured on the cards to support comprehension.

Pedagogical Tips:

• Start as a group: Explore the expressions or vocabulary together and ensure everyone understands them.
• Encourage speaking: Each player should explain their choices, ask questions, and describe images. This helps develop oral fluency and active language use.
• Emphasize reformulation and detailed description (especially from level B1 onward) to strengthen expressive skills.
• Use the game variations to diversify learning:
  • Storytelling with cards
  • Memory games or syntax-based activities
  • Image-to-sound or image-to-situation associations

Tip: Link to Visual Art

Take advantage of the artistic references on the cards (“In the universe of…”) to introduce a cultural dimension. You can:

• Assign mini-research projects on the artists
• Show the original artworks in class
• Discuss their style, origin, or message

• Vocabulary sheets to distribute: include the word, transliteration, image, and meaning.
• Modeling: create a sample word before starting the activity to show students what to aim for.
• Individual support: help students with reading direction and placing tesserae correctly.
• Differentiation: offer longer or shorter words depending on each student’s language level.

• Choose a short and meaningful word together (2–4 letters) that your child likes.
• Print or draw an 8×8 to 10×10 grid on a sheet of cardstock.
• Prepare colored paper squares (1×1 cm) and sort them by color.
• Provide a vocabulary card with the Arabic word, transliteration, translation, and an associated image.
• Help your child lightly sketch the word in Kufic style on the grid using a pencil.
• Encourage them to say each letter out loud while gluing it, before completing the full word.
• Review the spelling and pronunciation together, and build a simple sentence using the word.
• Celebrate their work by displaying it on the wall or taking a photo to share with family.

Variations and Adaptations

• Zoomorphic mosaic: The word takes the shape of the object it represents (e.g., “سمكة” [fish] in the shape of a fish).
• Collective mural: Each student creates one letter, and together they assemble a giant word on a wall or large panel.
• Digital workshop: Create the grid and mosaic on a tablet, then print the final result.

Adaptation to Other Alphabets

Adaptation to the Latin Alphabet (French, English, Spanish…)

• Square mosaic of key words: Choose a word of 4–6 letters (e.g., PEACE, LOVE, LIBERTÉ).
• Grid size: 10×10 or 8×8; each letter spans several squares based on its relative width.
• Two-tone tesserae: One color for the letters, another for the background.
• Linguistic goal: Reinforce spelling, syllable segmentation (e.g., LI – BE – RÉ – TÉ) and pronunciation out loud.

Adaptation to the Cyrillic Alphabet (Russian, Bulgarian…)

• Simple word of 3–5 graphemes (e.g., МИР “peace”, ДОМ “house”).
• Adjustable grid: Use rectangular squares for elongated letters (e.g., Ж, Ш).
• Diacritic variations: Stick raised accents (e.g., Ú, Ё) on slightly larger tesserae.
• Linguistic goal: Memorize the shapes of specific letters and common ligatures (e.g., СЧ, ШТ).

Presentation of the Historical and Cultural Context :

• https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kufi
• La collection de la BnF

Tutorials and More Ideas for Making Mosaics:

• https://apprentissagecreatifdelarabe.weebly.com/les-objets.html
• http://www.katakeresztely.fr/objets-en-mosaique.html