--- title: "Stamping for kids: potato stamps, rollers and stencils" description: "Stamping for kids: how to make a potato stamp, print patterns with rollers and stencils, and why each print gets paler. With the on-screen version." source_name: "Game Tailors" source_url: "https://extreemtekenen.nl/en/techniques/stamping/" site_home: "https://extreemtekenen.nl/" source_description: "The drawing app where the paper is real. No ads, no accounts, no data collected." locale: "en" legal: - "Game Tailors · Schieweg 15Y-40, 2627 AN Delft (NL)" - "KvK 92437702 · VAT NL866044474B01" - "info@gametailors.com · +31 6 4227 5919" copyright: "© 2026 Game Tailors" published_at: "2026-10-24T00:48:33.216Z" modified_at: "2026-10-24T00:48:34.036Z" --- # Stamping for kids: potato stamps, rollers and stencils ## Make one mark, then make a hundred Stamping is printing: put paint on a raised shape, press it on paper, and the shape appears. Do it again for a pattern. Potato halves, corks and rolling pins all print, and each print comes out paler as the paint runs out. [Play in your browser]()[Do it for real](<#for-real>) - Ages 3\+ - 30 minutes - An adult does the cutting ![Painted illustration of the painter pressing a potato star stamp, with rows of colourful star prints, roller stripes, a stencil and paint trays.]() ## Quick facts Age 3\+ for printing \(an adult cuts\) Time 30 minutes Mess Medium Adult needed Yes, for the knife You need \(cost\) Potatoes, a knife or cookie cutters, poster paint, paper On screen / for real Both ## What you'll make Rows of stars, hearts or fish in two or three colours, repeating patterns from a rolling pin wrapped in string, and letters printed through a home-made stencil. Brown paper turns into wrapping paper. ## In Extreme Drawing Three ways to print in Extreme Drawing: - **Stencils** \(button above the drawing kit, free\): letters A–Z, numbers 0–9 and 12 shapes. Lay one, paint or draw over it, lift it off: colour only where the holes were. Letters get little bridges, so the middle of an O doesn’t fall out. In **My stencils** you can cut your own from card with scissors on screen. - **Stamps** \(Craft, in the full toolbox\): star, heart, paw, flower, smiley and fish, with black, red, blue, green and purple ink pads and a damp cloth. Each print shows the paper’s grain and comes out fainter than the last. Press a stamp into wet paint or ketchup and it prints that on the next go. Every press leaves a faint dent, which a crayon rubbing brings out. - **Rollers** \(Craft, in the full toolbox\): dots, zigzags, stars, hearts and paw prints. They ink themselves, run pale after a long stretch and recover when you put them down. Rolled through wet paint, a roller prints that paint again every turn. The **Rolling pin** \(Kitchen, free\) does the same through wet paint. [Play in your browser]() ![Painted illustration of the painter sprinkling glitter on a glue star, beside salt on a glue line soaking up blue paint, stickers, ink droppers, a stencil and tape.]() ## Do it for real **You need** - Big, firm potatoes - A sharp knife \(for the adult\), or small cookie cutters - Kitchen paper - Poster paint on a plate, or a damp kitchen sponge with paint on it as an ink pad - Paper, card or brown paper - Extras: corks, bottle caps, a rolling pin with string or rubber bands wrapped round it ### A potato stamp, step by step 1. Cut the potatoAn adult cuts a potato in half with one straight cut, so the face is flat. 2. Make the shapePress a cookie cutter into the cut face, then the adult cuts away the potato around it, about 1 cm deep. Or draw a shape with a pen and the adult carves it. 3. Dry the facePat it with kitchen paper. A wet potato makes blotchy prints. 4. Ink itDab the stamp on the paint sponge, or brush paint onto it: thin and even. 5. Press and liftPress firmly without twisting, then lift straight up. Print two or three times before re-inking and watch it fade. 6. Make a patternRows, turns, two colours. Let it dry flat. Safety and clean-up Knives are for adults: children choose and draw the shape and do the printing. Cookie cutters make it safer and quicker. Fresh poster paint washes out of most clothes. Cut potatoes go brown and soft within a day or two, so throw the stamps away afterwards. ## Variations to try ### Christmas wrapping paper Star and tree stamps in red, green and gold on brown paper. ### Rolling-pin patterns Wrap string or rubber bands round a rolling pin or a toilet-roll tube, roll it through paint, then across the paper. ### Leaf prints Paint the bumpy back of a real leaf and press it onto paper for an autumn print. ### Stencilled names Cut letters out of card, then dab paint through the holes with a sponge. ## In the app vs on paper ### On screen Nothing to carve: six stamps, five rollers and a box of stencils, and you can cut your own stencil with scissors on screen. Prints fade the way real ones do. The stencils and the rolling pin are free; the stamps and rollers are in the full toolbox. ### On real paper A potato stamp can be any shape you can draw, and it is all yours. Real prints vary with how much paint and how hard you press, which is half the fun. ![Painted illustration of the painter pressing a potato star stamp, with rows of colourful star prints, roller stripes, a stencil and paint trays.]() ## Why only the shape prints A stamp only touches the paper with its raised part, so only that part prints. Each press leaves some paint behind on the paper, so the next print has less paint and comes out paler. **For grown-ups.** This is **relief printing**: the raised surface carries the ink and transfers it under pressure, while cut-away areas never touch the paper. Only part of the paint transfers at each contact, so prints fade until the stamp is re-inked. A cut potato’s face is wet with starchy juice, which is why drying it matters. A roller repeats its pattern once per turn, so its repeat length is its circumference \(π × diameter\). ## Try next: what do you predict? ### How many prints? How many prints can one stamp make before it runs out of paint? ### Wet or dry potato? Which prints a sharper shape? ### Thin or thick roller? Which one repeats its pattern sooner? ### Two colours at once? What happens if you ink one stamp in two colours? ## In the classroom Stamping fits KS1 and KS2 art and design \(using a range of materials and techniques\) and early maths work on repeating patterns; rollers add circumference for older pupils. Stencils in the app need no materials at all for a quick whiteboard demo. [Ideas for teachers]()[Using it on the whiteboard]() ## Questions parents ask How do you make a potato stamp? Cut a potato in half, press a cookie cutter into the cut face and have an adult cut away the potato around it. Pat it dry, dab it in paint and press. What paint is best for potato stamping? Poster paint or ready-mixed paint, spread thinly on a plate or a sponge. Watery paint slides and blurs. Why are my potato prints blotchy? The potato is wet or there is too much paint. Pat the face dry, dab off the extra paint and press straight down without wiggling. What else can kids stamp with? Corks, bottle caps, building bricks, sponges cut into shapes, halved apples, leaves and their own fingers. Are there stencils in Extreme Drawing? Yes: letters, numbers and 12 shapes are free, and you can cut your own stencil from card on screen. ## Try these next ![Painted illustration of the painter blowing coloured bubbles over a bowl through a straw and holding up paper printed with lacy blue and pink rings.]() ### [Bubble painting]() Print the lacy rings of coloured bubbles. ![Painted illustration of the painter on a sunny windowsill lifting a leaf off faded blue paper, where the leaf, a key and a star left darker shapes.]() ### [Sun print]() Let the sun print the shapes of things lying on coloured paper. ![Painted illustration of the painter sprinkling salt on a big blue and purple snowflake painting, beside a frosted snowman drawing, gingerbread stars and hearts and a Christmas tree.]() ### [Christmas science and crafts]() Snowflakes, a frozen snowman and festive printing ideas. ## Lay a stencil on screen Stencil your name, cut your own stencil shape, and roll the rolling pin through wet paint. Then get the potatoes out. [Play in your browser]()[All art techniques]()