Printing with stones is a fantastic process art idea for kids of all ages + exploration of shapes and printing!
I have to admit that this was not my idea!
Emma suggested we paint with stones and make shapes – I said OK!
Great idea using stones to stamp pictures.
At first we randomly stamped – to see the form each stone was going to make, then Emma thought of using the stones as ‘building block stamps’ to make houses and other things…
I adore the concept of walking through your garden and hunting for painting materials!
We have made our own paint brushes before – using things we found in the garden and around the house – that is also fun, you should try it sometime!
What do you need to Rock Stamp?
- Paint – we used washable kids paint like this
- Paper – I like process painting over bigger spaces so we used A3 paper size
- Containers to hold the paint – they need to be big enough to be able to dip the stones into
- A selection of stones
When you are all set up – which is as simple as pie – all you need is two willing artists…
I have those in stock all the time – and they are always up for a paint!
As with all other printing activities we have done, sound effects seem to be key!
With each stamp a single word gets said. This time it was BANG – obviously being ‘rocks’ they were heavy and needed a LOUD theme tune!
If you enjoy printing activities here are a few of the ones we have so enjoyed!
- Printing with Apples and Oranges
- Circle Fun with Card Board Tube Rolls – wonderful for younger kids
- Cork Flowers and a Snail made from a Cork dotted pattern
- We have also used corks to make this awesome Autumn Tree
- Okra printed flowers are beautiful!
Hope you give this rock printing a try!
It is so easy to set up and such a fine exploration of shapes and forms!
Interestingly an older child will start to observe that the shapes being printed are not like the actual shape of the stone – which is a wonderful beginning to things 2D and 3D! Stones are not a flat stamp and in fact have many sides.
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