Potato Printing Shamrocks

Description

Toddler Activities with paint are a great way to reinforce color and fine motor skills. Printing is an easy way to explore printing. We used a potato and carved our a shamrock to create simple prints. Potato printing is an activity great for young children.

Materials for Potato Printing

• Green and White Tempera Paint
• Large Potato (nice round shape works well)
• Two or three brushes
• White Paper (construction, scrapbook, cardstock or even sketch paper)
• Half of a potato
• Small heart or shamrock metal cutter
• Paint containers (small cups or plastic pallette)
• Paper towels
• Small Paring Knife (adult use only)

Steps

Adult Preparation: This sounds trickier than it is...it took about 10 minutes to complete the pattern.
• Cut potato in half.
• Plan your design visually so you have room for all three hearts. If you are using a heart cutter you will be making three hearts and a stem.
• Press the heart cutter about 1/4th inch into the potato. Press the next two hearts into the potato leaving the cutter in the third heart.
• With the paring knife, cut into the potato from the side about a 1/4 inch down. Cut until you knife touches the cutter. Using the tip of the paring knife, pop out the pieces around the cutter.
• Move the cutter back to the middle heart and repeat.
• After the three hearts are made, cut our a stem...or you can do this before you cut around the three hearts.

Child Participation

• Mix green with two different amounts of white to get a total of three shades of green.
• Have child paint directly on the potato with paint.
• Press onto paper making sure to help put gentle pressure without sliding for best print.
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Tips and Suggestions

• Having a brush for each color makes it easier to monitor.
• Put just enough paint...too much paint can make you lose the shape and the potato may slide a bit.

Other Ideas

• Use a heart shaped cutter and have your child print their own shamrock by printing three hearts and using a brush for the stem.
• Cut a simple pattern in the potato like stripes and zigzags and watch your child have fun making printed patterns.

Educational Note

Toddler Activities involving use of paint are a great way to help develop fine motor skills as well as a great visual way to reinforce color recognition and even math concepts like counting.