Art with kids is always so much fun. Printmaking is a really fun art technique where you use different objects to transfer shapes and patterns with ink. It’s also a wonderful way to show cause and effect. For this activity, we made a simple turtle art piece using a potato masher and the kids were thrilled!
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What is Printmaking?
Printmaking is a technique for making art by printing, or recreating, the same picture multiple times. This means that you can recreate the same pattern multiple times using existing objects or objects you create yourself.
A potato masher, much like many household items, makes a great printmaking tool because it can be easily used as a stamp to recreate the same pattern.
How to Make Potato Masher Turtle Art
For this activity, you will need paper, paint (mainly brown and green), a potato masher, and a paintbrush.
The first step is to create the turtle shell using the potato masher. We chose brown for the shell and laid out the paint on a flat plate. Dip the potato masher onto the paint and gently stamp it onto your paper, making as many turtles as you desire. Hold down the paper when removing the potato masher to keep it from smudging.
Then you can paint on the remaining parts and details with a brush. We used green for the head and legs and black for the eyes.
Our Family's Potato Masher Turtle Art
I made one first to test it out and to show the steps on my Instagram page, you can see it here, in honor of World Turtle Day. My kids loved it so much they wanted to make their own. Within a few minutes, they caught on to the process and did it all by themselves. They were so proud of themselves and both of their arts came out fantastic!
Be sure to check out the fun picture books we read about turtles for World Turtle Day as well.
More Art Projects
You can find more crafts and art projects on my Instagram or in the following posts or in my Kid’s Activities section:
- Easy Color Exploration Water Activity That’s Guaranteed To Actually Entertain
- Colorful And Unlimited Fun With Easy Dot Marker Activities For Toddlers
- Teach Diversity with Beautiful Diversity Craft For Kids – MLK Day
- Simple Penguin Craft for Kids and Toddlers – Paper Handprint Activity
- How To Make Tear Free Bubble Foam For Kids
- 50 Easy and Creative Pool Noodle Activities for Toddlers You Need to Try
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My name is Paula and I’m a mom of two scrumptious cuties. Thanks Mommy Blog became a project for me to help guide other new moms and current moms through any of my own personal experiences and struggles. My hobbies include singing, doing jigsaw puzzles, baking, designing and trying to stay creative.
This is such a fun idea! My kids would love it!
This is really cute. It’s hard to think of activities for kids this summer and I think this will be awesome to try!
I can’t believe that a potato masher can make such wonderful piece of art. Thanks for sharing!