Have you ever done printmaking with young children before? From experience I can say it’s super fun, slightly crazy and a fantastic hands on art process for kids. We did printmaking this week at art class with the 3-5 year olds. I love the whole process, though it definitely veered in a different direction than I expected towards the end. Post to come on that. Phase one of our printmaking process was styrofoam resist printing. Every child was successful, even my almost 2 year old. This is a great technique for kids of all ages. Here’s how we did it.
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First , you will need some styrofoam boards. You can use recycled ones from meat trays from the market or you can buy these
that work really well. You will also need some tempera paint, a brayer
and some dulled writing utensils. We used the back of a paint brush, popsicle sticks and lollipop sticks. Once you have your materials, show your child how to make lines, dots, shapes, etc. with one of the tools. The foam is thin and will take to the pressure of your writing stick easily, making this a great project for any age.
Once everyone in our group had their design, I gave out paint in squeeze bottles to add onto the styrofoam. We talked about using a little vs. a lot. That little chat went better with some kids, than with others. Regardless, I highly recommend these squeeze bottles
for tempera paint. They make it really easy for the kids to use. The paint doesn’t dry out inside and you can always trim the tip if it gets clogged. I love them! I love them for a lot of things actually. Definitely worth purchasing. Once you squeeze a little paint onto the styrofoam, use your brayer to roll it all around the board. Then place a piece paper over the board and press hard with your hands to absorb all the paint. We called this part giving the paper a massage. Gently lift up your paper and you will see a fantastic print of your design. You can use all kinds of paper. We used pre-cut little stationary squares I picked up on sale at Michaels, but you can use any paper you want. This is our favorite construction paper
. It would work well for printmaking.
I love seeing these kids in action. They were so into it.
When we were done with our prints we hung them on a clothesline in our playhouse. Not all the prints you see hanging are from styrofoam printing. Stay tuned for more ways to do printmaking with preschoolers. Aren’t they beautiful?
I love the one that looks like a coral reef. The printing board looks as beautiful as the print itself.
That’s it folks. For more great process oriented projects for preschoolers try these Eric CarleMixed Up Chameleons or our Reggio inspired Self Portrait Shadow Boxes. Two of my fav projects with little ones. You can also purchase this great ebook available for download. I am a contributor with 25 other creative bloggers. I think you’ll really like it. You can also click on the pic at the end of this post for the ebook. Thanks for reading along and happy summer!
Look at all your gorgeous prints!
We loving printing here, but have not tried this technique yet, you’ve inspired me!
Thanks Kate! This is a really fun technique. I’ll be sharing a few more next week. We’re all about printmaking over here lately. Can’t wait to see what you do!
i love this post!! i think the way you do things is always so FUN. i love the squeeze bottles…and especially the look of pure joy on dd’s face! xx
Yes, D was so happy to participate! This was really fun. Wish our girls could all do it together!
I’m absolutely loving your print making techniques! Will try this weekend !
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Yay! That’s great. Have so much fun. Would love to hear how it goes.
Wonderful photos! Never too young.
Thank you so much! We had a blast with this.
Such vibrant, beautiful colors! I also love the texture on these prints. With Keepy, you can save and cherish art projects like these with added video commentary! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2utE5WJ-LG8
This is an awesome idea. Thank you!!
Thank you! Glad you like it : )
I tried to use the link to download the ebook, but all I got was the same image of the book in a new window—no download link or button to be seen. Is it still available?
I just fixed the link. Thanks for letting me know! It’s still available : )