Over the years I have given several art courses for teachers, offering ideas for the classroom. I recently came across some of my old files and they got me thinking about some of the most successful and fun courses I have facilitated. One of them was a course I gave in Print making for teachers of Primary School children (ages 4-12). These activities are great for the classroom but they are also really easy to do at home with little ones.
Here’s my step by step introductory guide to Print Making – Have Fun!
Equipment: *items in bold are essentials
O Acetate sheets
O Masking tape
O Rollers
O Printing ink
O Paper – newsprint
O Found objects – wine corks, lego, cars, cutlery, etc
O Polystyrene tiles (lino printing without danger!)
O Draft excluder (block printing)
O Card
O Crayons
O Paint
Getting Started:
- Secure sheet of newspaper on table with masking tape.
- Secure acetate sheet on newspaper by taping all 4 sides with masking tape
- Squirt a little ink along the top of the acetate
- Roll out a thin film/layer of ink with roller on the acetate
- Now you are ready to print!
Monoprinting:
- Draw a design/picture into the ink on the acetate sheet.
- Press a sheet of paper over the ink and smooth over.
- Peel back and admire your print!
- You have just created a monoprint!
Block Printing with Draft Excluder:
O Create a design/picture using the draft excluder on a piece of card
O Remember if you want to print a word you must stick the draft excluder down in a mirror image of the word.
O Carefully roll the ink onto the draft excluder, avoid the card if possible
Lino Printing Without the Danger (Impressed Printing):
O Using a biro, pencil or wrong end of a paint brush draw your design into the polystyrene.
O Try not to punch through the foam.
O Roll ink all over the tile
O The grooves caused by drawing should stay ink free.
O Flip tile upside down and press down onto paper
O Peel back to reveal your print!
Wax resist:
O A great activity for all class levels
O Draw a pattern, design or picture with wax crayons – lean heavily on crayon!
O Paint over drawing with watered down paint
O *Paper Batik – cover an entire page in heavy wax crayon – colours or picture. Scrunch page up into tight ball. Flatten out. Paint over with dark watered down paint. Paint sticks to cracks and creates an antique effect.
Found Objects:
O Anything you can dip in paint or ink that will make a mark can be used in printing.
O Some of my favourite items include: lego, little cars, wine corks, sponges, scouring pads, fabric such as hessian, plastic blocks and shapes and cutlery.
O Patterns, or pictures can be created with these items.
Body Parts:
O Handprints, finger painting, footprints etc are all very valid forms of printing and not just for junior classes!
O Use markers or pens to add details such as eyes or antennae to finger prints.
O Create a gorgeous class montage of handprints at the beginning of the year, or use autumn colours to print hands in the form of leaves on a tree!
Fold-over Prints:
O Again, this is not just for the junior classes
O Create lovely effects by mixing a variety of colours to create butterflies
O Encourage the children to be creative in how they place the ink on the page before folding it over in order to make different shapes!
O Great for teaching symmetry in maths!
Rubbings:
O Rubbings are a very simple, hassle free form of printing.
O Rubbings can be taken of a wide variety of things – leaves, bark, walls, fabrics, wall plaques, shapes, etc
Our Little House in the Country 