My kids and I love the easy art technique of printing.
You can make so many cool patterns and shapes and creations by using all kinds of fun objects to print with.
We’ve already used some weird and wonderful things to print with, like nuts and bolts, and the bottom of plastic containers, but we can always find more crazy things to print with!
If you have a look around I;m sure you’ll find all kinds of basic household items that wold be good to print with.
Look for things that have an interesting pattern or shape, things that have a flat surface with ridges or indentations, or anything with a texture.
After a quick hunt around the house we came up with these ten crazy things to try out;
- A domino
- An old dead battery
- A piece of rolled up cardboard
- An old marker lid
- A dice
- A plastic fork
- A plastic lid with bumpy edges
- A Duplo block
- An empty cotton reel
A bulldog clip / binder clip
We set up some ‘paint pads’ with a sponge in the bottom a bowl with some liquitemp paint on top, grabbed some big sheets of paper, and we were ready to experiment and see what items were good for printing and what patterns and shapes they made!
The cotton reel made a fabulous print, and the rolled cardboard and marker lid were was really easy to print with and get good clear results.
We rolled the plastic lid along the paper to see if the bumpy side would make an interesting patter, it was a bit hard to manage but the print turned out great! It also made great simple circle prints too.
The fork was really easy for little hands to print with, the dominoes and dice were a little harder to manage but made really cool imprints.
The battery made an interesting imprint but you had to roll the edge around a little which made it difficult to manage.
The duplo block made interesting and different prints with the top bottom and side which was fun, but my favourite was the funny shape from the side of the bulldog/binder clip!
It was loads of fun finding the items and then experimenting to see what patterns each one would make.
What crazy things can you find around your house to print with?
I have used a potato masher (the children in my class have no idea what it is). I have also used a scrunchy the net thing that you use to clean dishes with. Bubble wrap, a mastic trowel, cut up bathtub mat, a fish, corn cob, gift wrap bows, shoes with different treads, TP rolls. The possibilities are endless. It’s fun to look at items with the idea of painting with them.
Thanks for sharing your ideas!!
I love printing and stamping and everytime I see a pretty pin like this I wonder why my son doesn’t! haha
Love this-will try with students
Thank you