20+ Fun stamping and print-making activities for kids of all ages, using items from around the house or natural items found in your yard or garden. From simple stamping projects for toddlers and preschoolers to designing a template for blockprinting for older kids, we’ve got you covered.
I’ve never met a child who doesn’t love stamping and making prints as an art activity. Fortunately, you don’t need any special materials to make this kind of art. Your kids can enjoy stamping with a variety of items that you have around your home or making prints with items found in nature.
Below, I’ll show you some of our favourite fun and easy ways to do it. Just click on the links for the instructions for each project.
You may also like 25+ Easy Art Projects for Toddlers and Preschoolers.
Nature Stamping
Stamping and making prints with flowers and leaves from your yard and garden is a fun way for kids to make art outdoors and a great way to learn about the colours, shapes and textures plants and leaves native to your area. Here are 2 of our favourite ways to stamp and make prints with items found in nature.
Apple Stamping
Apple stamping is a classic art activity for toddlers and preschoolers, and is a wonderful way to introduce your child to making prints. Below, you’ll find a few of the ways we’ve gotten creative with apple stamping here in my daycare.
Stamping with Cardboard Rolls
Toilet paper rolls, paper towel rolls and food wrap rolls are wonderful for making prints with. Just dip the end of the roll in a puddle of paint and stamp away. Sturdy cardboard rolls are perfect for circle stamping (see our Olympic Ring Art below), while thinner paper towel and toilet paper rolls can be shaped prior to stamping (see our heart projects below).
Making Prints with Styrofoam – Block Printing
Block printing is a form of making a print from a template that you carve a design into, which can be used over and over again. In the post below, you’ll see how we made gorgeous Valentines and Christmas cards using just piece of styrofoam, paint and a paint roller.
Halloween Stamping and Printmaking
You can make prints with so many different household items. As you’ll see below, we’ve made a bunch of Halloween crafts over the years using everything from styrofoam and sponges to wooden blocks and even our hands and feet.
Stamping with Corks
My toddlers and preschoolers love stamping with wine corks, so we do this often when we need to add nice big polkadots to a craft. We often use single corks dipped in paint to make dots on our art/craft, but if you you can also secure several corks together with an elastic to make some really cool flower prints (see first link below).
Homemade Stamp Ideas:
If you’re looking for more inspiration for stamping with items you already have the house, you’ll want to check out these simple ideas:
6 Ways to Make Homemade Stamps for Kids
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Jackie is a mom, wife, home daycare provider, and the creative spirit behind Happy Hooligans. She specializes in kids’ crafts and activities, easy recipes, and parenting. She began blogging in 2011, and today, Happy Hooligans inspires more than 2 million parents, caregivers and Early Years Professionals all over the globe.
