If you have a little lover of painting and drawing at your place, you need to introduce them to the lovely creative world of stamping! There is something so satisfying about making your own tools and then using them to create a masterpiece.
And there are so many ways you can make stamps with your kids, no matter how young they are. With a little thought and engineering, almost anything can be turned into a stamp.
Here are 6 of our favourites – all made from odds and ends that you’ll have at home already.
A note on inks and paints
The first thing to know about stamping activities – no matter what you choose – is that it’s messy! No matter how careful you are, little hands (and clothes if you don’t cover them!) are going to get covered in ink or paint. The mess is definitely intended to be part of the fun, so if you’re considering doing this, take everything outside if you can and then take a deep breath and relax …
The second thing to know is that unless you specifically buy washable ink pads or paint, that mess can be a permanent part of your life. Generally, ink pads are filled with permanent ink so choose wisely. You can also make your own paint pads and fill them with washable paint to ensure everything can be cleaned away after the fun is done.
Homemade stamp pads
These homemade stamp pads are simple to make and very kid-friendly to use. Check out the instructions at Paging Fun Mums.
Washable ink pads
This multi-colour inkpad is full of rainbow fun and totally washable. You can buy it from Amazon.
6 simple stamping activities to do at home
1. Potato stamping
The original – and possibly the best – of the homemade stamping materials. While cutting and carving the potato into a stamp is definitely work for adult’s hands, the fact that half a potato fits snugly into the littlest of hands, and forms a sturdy handle, makes potato stamps the very best, we think.
Check out these sweet potato stamp ideas at One Inch World.
2. Bubble wrap stamping
Bubble wrap is always a popular plaything with kids – it must be all that unexpected popping it does! But bubble wrap gets even better when you stretch and secure a piece over the end of a cardboard tube. Dunk it into a blob of paint and voila! Bubble wrap stamping fun ahead!
Get all the instructions at Toddler At Play.
3. Straw stamping
Proving that almost anything can be saved from the recycling bin for stamping fun, this simple straw stamping activity makes great use of those pesky plastic straws that we shouldn’t be using anymore.
Find out how at Craft Meets Kids
4. Bottle top stamping
Another genius idea – and so effective too! All you need to do is match up your collection of milk bottle lids with foam stickers and you are done. Really, these could be made in 2 minutes flat and then think of all the gorgeous stamping fun you could have with these babies.
Follow the how-to instructions at Paging Fun Mums
5. Heart tube stamping
Have you got a toilet roll handy? Yes? Give it a little squeeze here and there and in a trice, you have yourself a heart stamp. Dip it in a blob of red paint (because hearts have to be red, right?!) and get stamping. Hearts aplenty.
Find a heap of heart-shaped activities to do at Housing A Forest
6. Sponge stamping
There’s heaps of tactile fun to be had with these gorgeous sponges – you can cut them up into all sorts of crazy shapes too. And once you’re done with the stamping extravaganza, the sponges can be re-used in new painting activities next time.
