Hello! Today we are doing a printmaking project in the studio. Miles and I collected some green figs from our favorite nature spot, and we will use them to make hand printed cards.
Materials:
1. Figs (or you can use any type of fruit or veggie for this project!)
2. printmaking Ink (you can also use tempera paints for this if you have them, they are great for toddlers and easy to wash out) I used water soluble printmaking ink because Miles is past the eating phase of his art making, and he likes to wash his hands after inky projects like this. Plus they make a gorgeous gold ink that is hard to beat on black construction paper.
3. small plate for ink
4. knife to cut the figs in half the long way
5. black and colorful construction paper
6. Glue stick to mount the dried prints on to a new sheet of clean paper
7. an ink brayer can be useful for this project to roll out ink, and it can be super fun extra element for your child to roll the brayer on extra sheets of paper too! (they are available online at amazon)
Miles Collecting Green Figs
I really like this project because it requires several days to collect the Figs, and we spent a long time looking at them, talking about their color and shape, and when it came to cutting each fig, he helped me with that part as well.
Gathering Figs together
a few words about printmaking with kids: This is a fun and easy project, but it can and will get messy. I decided to do this project in our kitchen because it is tile and makes my job easier to clean being near a sink. you could also do it outside as well to cut down on the mess though. I genuinely believe that it is important for kids to get messy without feeling like they have to wash up immediately, so my advice is to do this project somewhere where you won’t feel overwhelmed or need to clean up immediately.
a few helpful materials, brayer to roll the ink, extra paper, string to tie the cards when they are complete, and ink to make the fig prints with
Finished version of our Fig Prints!
this project engages kids in:
collecting and exploring nature
fruit and tree identification
messy play
cutting practice
shape and pattern exploration