How to make your own art stamps for printmaking

Here’s a creative and easy printing making lesson for children using homemade art stamps.

How to make your own art stamps for printmaking

You can make your own set of stamps for printing using all sorts of things you have around the home.

Try these ideas and create your own unique set of DIY art stamps.

Materials needed

:: wooden blocks

:: materials to create stamps such as yarn, buttons, stickers, pieces of thick cardboard

:: tape or glue gun

:: paints

:: paper

:: plates

How to make homemade art stamps

Use wooden blocks for your stamps.

Find a variety of small items which you can fix to the wooden blocks using tape or a glue gun.

You might glue on buttons or coins.

Yarn can be wrapped around the blocks and held in place with a little tape.

You can cut out shapes or letters from pieces of thick cardboard and stick them to the blocks with glue.

Set out paint on plates, so that is it easy for your children to dip their stamps face down into the paint.

Then experiment with the patterns and designs you can create by printing your homemade stamps over your paper.

DIY stamp variations to try

You can do this on a large scale and print on a big piece of paper to make your own gift wrap.

Or use fabric paint and print on cloth.

Try printing on play dough!

You can also make a set of stamps from air drying clay.

Mould the clay into flattened balls and use pencils, wooden skewers or other utensils to create patterns in the clay.

You can make your designs on the round, flat side of the stamps, or around the outer edges to make rollers.

Leave the clay to dry and then use your homemade stamps to make prints or to roll designs across your page.