Flower Printmaking

Description:

For this activity we worked with a partner and created flower prints. We started with drawing two flowers on small sheets of paper. We then taped our flower drawings on small sheets of styrofoam and traced the flower drawing with a pen onto the styrofoam to make indents into it. After getting the flower indents into the styrofoam we went to the printmaking table. At this table we took a paint roller and rolled it onto the styrofoam. When the paint was evenly coated on the foam we took the foam and stamped it onto small blank pieces on paper. When we were done we gave two of our prints to our partners and got two of theirs. Finally, we glues all of our and our partners prints to a piece of construction paper. 

Extension Activity:

For an extension, students will learn about early printmaking methods, like woodblock printing in China or Japan, and compare them to their own flower print process. Then, they’ll create a simple “historical print” inspired by how prints were used in the past to share stories, decorate textiles, or show cultural symbols.