3 Colorful Monoprint Crafts for Kindergarten

Original art provides the best art for your home's walls, when your child makes that art, it rates as priceless. Printmaking takes many forms in art, from easy stamp type printing to more complicated images created through intricate carvings. Kindergarten students can create their own abstract prints or line drawingn prints with some basic materials you already have in your arts and crafts box and in your kitchen. Experiment creates the best art, and older or more adventurous kids can combine more than one technique to develop their own style of prints.

Explore the Abstract Monoprint

In traditional printmaking, the artist makes multiple prints from one image, numbering each one. With a monoprint only one unique piece of art will be created.
1. Line an old cookie sheet with a sheet of wax paper.
2. Squirt or drop tempera paint, or any child's tube paint onto the sheet.
3. Swirl the paint around to mix the colors and create a rainbow in a blender effect.
4. Place a piece of drawing paper on top of the paint starting. Gently rub the paper to ensure the paint sticks to it.
5. Remove the paper starting at one end first and admire the monoprint.
6. Add more paint, change colors and repeat for a completely different monoprint.

Line Drawing Monoprint

Working with layers presents a mysterious way to make monoprints.
1. Replace the wax paper in the cookie sheet with a fresh piece.
2. Use an ink brayer to spread printing ink around evenly. Use one color.
3. You can also use acrylic paint and some acrylic flow release. If you don't have an ink brayer, use a plastic rolling pin.
4. Add a piece of drawing paper to the top of the ink or paint.
5. Draw an image with a pencil.
6. Remove the paper to find a print of the image on the underside of the paper. There will also be paint outside of the lines, which give the line drawing a soft look and a background.

Secret Message Monoprint

1. Change the sheet again and follow the same process as above, with the brayer and the ink.
2. Instead of a line drawing, create a secret message by writing a word with backwards letters in pencil. This can be tricky, so help out your kindergarten student.
Tip: choose a short word or two word phrase.
3. Remove the paper to read the message!
4. If your child writes a word correctly, the print will show the word backwards, like a secret message.