Printing with Galactic Gadgets: Recycled Stamp Workshop

WORKSHOP DATES:
Saturday June 28 11am-12pm
Monday July 8 11am-12pm

For this workshop, the kids used stamps made of recycled gadgets to create textured prints.  Galactic means "of or relating to a galaxy" particularly the Milky Way.  These gadgets are easy to find at home (and I think it's safe to say) are unique to our own galaxy.

I made most of the stamps prior to the workshop due to time. Also to make the stamps I used glue that needed time to dry and hot glue that would have required a lot of adult supervision.  I wanted a wide variety of textures to be available at the start of the workshop so for the stamps I made at home prior to  the activity, I used the following items, but the possibilities are endless! I could easily devote an entire hour to just making stamps... it's really fun, you should try it!

• plastic lids and bottle caps (these make great stamps bases if you glue things to them, or on their own  to make various sized circles)
• cardboard (try pulling the layers apart or cutting into shapes. I used layers as stamp bases)
• cork
• craft foam (the sticky-back kind is good if you want to avoid glue, but the stamps won't last.  If you want to keep them to reuse, I recommend hot glue)
• packing foam
• bubble wrap
• bamboo skewers (make great handles for little stampers, trim to size)
• spaghetti
• rice
• French press filters
• tulle
• plastic netting (bath puffs and produce bags)
• funnels
• fabric (can be stuffed with newspaper or polyfil for soft stamps)
• pipe cleaners
• yarn
• beads
• paper tube rolls 

I also had extra plastic caps and craft foam with a peel & stick back so that kids could cut out their own stamps.  

We printed on rice paper and construction paper pre-cut into circles.  The rice paper is nice for printing but is also a little flimsy.  I suggested layering the circles and using a brass fastener in the center to create a rotating wheel.