As you well know, I love carving and printing stamps. Finding successful and safe ways for children to make their own stamps always feels extra satisfying. I’m not a fan of craft foam, but some of it has wandered into our art corner … again! Why not utilize its redeeming qualities and turn it into something that can be used over and over? Craft foam can easily be cut with small (and not-so-sharp) children’s scissors and absorbs ink/paint nicely for printing. Here’s a simple technique for creating stamps that could be applied to many artistic pursuits for multiple ages.
Materials:
- scrap of thin foam
- tape
- cardboard
- wine cork
- glue
- pen
- ink pad
- scissors (optional)
Instructions
Cut out small (around 2 inches) heart (or any other shape, for that matter).- Tape it to a small square of cardboard.
- Encourage your child to draw a design on the foam with a pen or pencil (press hard!). If the foam shape is random, you may want to have them draw a heart in the center using a stencil for help.
Cut off the excess cardboard around the foam.- Glue the back of the cardboard to a cork (a wooden spool would work well too). We didn’t want to wait for glue to dry, and a little piece of duct tape worked just fine as an instant fix.
Stamp away! If you like making stamps, here are two more ideas to share with children (and yes, foam appears again!): Stamping Part 1 and Stamping Part 2.
SOURCE:http://www.pbs.org/parents/crafts-for-kids/felt-stamps/