Art & Maker Wednesdays: DIY Stamps
Create beautiful art, learn about patterns, and practice fine motor skills with some DIY cardboard stamps!
Materials & Instructions
Cardboard
Scissors or an x-acto knife
Paint
Paper
Optional: hot glue or regular glue
STEP 1: Use your scissors or x-acto knife to cut shapes out of the cardboard. Squares, circles, triangles, squiggles – any shape you’d like! You can peel off the top layer of cardboard on some of your shapes to reveal the corrugated cardboard in the middle.
STEP 2: If you want to get fancy, you can use your glue to stick smaller pieces of cardboard or rolled cardboard to the back of your shapes to make handles. This step is optional! If you use regular glue, you will need to give your stamps a chance to dry.
STEP 3: Dip your shapes into the paint (if you don’t have handles, this step might be messy). Then stamp them onto your paper.
STEP 4. Create an abstract piece of art using your stamps and paint. Can you create patterns using your new stamps?
Note to Parents
Holding stamps can prepare young children for the important task of holding a crayon or pencil one day. For little ones who are still working on their pre-writing skills, stamps can strengthen those finger muscles and fine motor skills.
For very young children, stamping can be a fun challenge on its own. For older children (3 and up), incorporate some early math skills by encouraging them to stamp patterns (for example heart, circle, heart, circle) on their paper. This will help them learn to identify patterns and create their own.
Source: The Motor Story
Vocab Words
Abstract Art: Abstract art (like the art we created today) is art that uses shapes, swirls, and colors to create beautiful work instead of using more concrete things, like drawing a tree.
Corrugated: Something that is corrugated has ridges and grooves, like our cardboard after we peeled off the top layer.
Pattern: A pattern is a repeated design. A pattern can be simple – heart, circle, heart, circle – or it can be more complicated.
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