We spent an hour or so today making our own rubber stamps. Actually as I type this, James and Bella are sitting back up at the table carving out more designs to add to their personal stamp stash.
It was an easy and rewarding activity for the kids to do. I found all the information that I needed for stamp making HERE and the supplies (ezy carve printing block $8.30 + carving tools - I think they were $6 - $7 for a pack) at my local art supply store.
The tools aren't sharp enough to cut little fingers when carving, but they're strong enough to glide right through the rubber. I was really quite surprised at how easy the whole stamp-making process is to do. We traced a few of the designs (the elephant, dog and owl) directly from books, but the others were just sketched out by hand.
What are they going to do with their stamps? Well, James just wants to carve, stamp once or twice and move onto the next stamp, sitting them aside to look at and admire. Bella has plans for tags, cards and all sorts of things. They're pretty fun to do though - and quite addictive once you get started!
