Make Your Own Animal Stamps

When you are stuck on a rainy day, or need a fun DIY project to keep the little ones busy, here is a great solution. Not only does this art project provide kids with a fun, unique way to create something beautiful, but teaches them to think ahead and give one more use to old potatoes that we would otherwise compost or toss in the landfill.

For this project, it is best to use old potatoes in your kitchen. If you are dying to do this project and don’t have any, fresh ones would work just fine, but the more dry the potato, the better. You can either choose to use your own paint or stamp ink, or you can use the recipe provided for your own DIY edible paints.

First you will want to gather together your flour, corn starch, measuring cups, food coloring, and a large bowl.

For Homemade Kid-Safe Edible Paint

• ¾ cup flour
• 1 cup warm water
• 2 tbsp cornstartch
• food coloring

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and add desired food coloring for different colors.

Although this is edible it is not meant to actually eat (it doesn't taste very good) but for those who want to stay away from chemical paints this is a great easy alternative.

This easy recipe is a fun way to teach kids the independence of cooking and finishing a project it will be more rewarding when they make the paint themselves.

It can also be done with stamp ink!

Make the Stamps Out of Potatoes

Making the stamps requires a little finesse and patience, but is well worth it. We've provided stencils that can be cut out or referenced for design ideas. Click the image of the footprints for a download of the stencils.

Cut the dry potatoes in Half.  

Copy the Stencil image and cut around the stencil with a sharp knife.  Dig out about 1/8" so you can see the shapes of the toes.