CREATIVE ART TECHNIQUES​ - USING PRINT MAKING

MANY OF THESE CREATIVE PRINT MAKING IDEAS CAN BE ADAPTED TO WORK WITH ANY THEME. CHANGE COLORS AND TEXTURES FOR DIFFERENT THEMES AND TOPICS

• Styrofoam printing – scratch a design in Styrofoam with a toothpick or scissors. Color over the scratched surface with markers or paint. Press a piece of paper on the colored area.

 

• Vegetable printing – use fruit and vegetables past their prime. Use potatoes, apples, squeezed citrus, cornhusks, carrot circles, onion, green pepper, onion. Press onto a sponge with tempera spread on it, or a folded paper towel with tempera. Wipe off excess paint.

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• Fish printing. Use a whole fish that isn’t needed for food. Use a brush to paint thick tempera on one side. Wipe off excess. Place the paper over it and press, smooth it. 

• Crayon rubbing – lot of variations.   Tape stencils or natural objects such as leaves to the back of a piece of lightweight paper. Turn it over and rub the side of crayons over the paper to make the texture pattern appear. Blend colors. 

• Prints with finger-paint.   Finger-paint on a laminated table surface, place a piece of paper on top of the finger-paint, and slowly peel it up. Vary it by dripping food coloring onto the paint area.

• Bubble prints – place a little water, some Joy liquid soap, and a coloring agent (e.g. food coloring, powdered tempera) in a bowl. Blow into mixture gently through a straw to produce a mound of bubbles. Press lightweight paper down on the bubble mound to capture the print.

• Tool printing.  All kinds of washable tools – potato masher, whisk, strainer, fork, spoon, cookie cutters, paper cups, glasses, nuts and bolts – be creative!! Use tempera in a paper bowl or plate or spread on a paper towel. Sprinkle glitter on the prints if you wish.

 

• Fingertip printing and handprints. Press fingertip on inked stamp pad, or thin layer of tempera. Press all over the paper.  Change colors.  After it is dry, extras can be added with markers or pencils. Make insects, “footprints”, a pathway etc. 

• Printing with hands and feet. Paint your own, or have some else do it. This is messy, of course. Don’t do it if you’re ticklish!

 

• Block printing – use any blocks that are washable, such as Duplos and Bristle blocks. Put a little soap in the tempera to make cleanup easier.

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Back to Creative Art Techniques index
Indispensable Supplies
Activity Recipes
Techniques with Paint (20)
Techniques with Collage and Glue  (15)
Drawing Techniques (6)
Techniques for Print Making (10)
Sculpting Techniques (3)
Construction Techniques (4)
Stitchery Techniques  (8)
​Miscellaneous Techniques  (4)
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MORE TO SEE ...

• Theme-a-Pedia - hundreds of printables and activities  organized by theme​​​​
• Become a KidSparkz member and access a password-protected area of the site for $3.50 a month.
• Toddler Curriculum - for ages 18 to 36 months (over 1600 pages)
• Pre-K Themes Series  -  a  collection of low-cost downloadable mini teaching topics/units that are focused towards preschool and pre-K learners.