Child painting yellow arch on homemade paper stamped with pink and orange flowers.

Handmade & Recycled Paper Fun

Remember that recycled, handmade paper that we made awhile back? Well, it’s time to do something with it if you haven’t already! You can also use recycled paper from other sources of course.

The grands and I tried Stamping & Painting on Handmade Paper with Kids and it was a success. I didn’t know how it would work as the paper is more porous and I wondered if it would get soggy and fall apart. Of course, any paper will fall apart with too much water, but using the Acrylic Craft Paints with the stamps and brushes worked perfectly.

Child in red smock painting on homemade paper, paper towel for blotting and cup for rinsing paintbrushes.

If You Set Out the Art Supplies...They Will Come

Set out the supplies needed for Stamping & Painting on Handmade Paper with Kids. Several bottles of Acrylic Craft Paints in a variety of colors are key. I tell you; this is one supply that is well worth keeping on hand. A Paint Brushes Set, a glass of water to clean brushes and a paper towel for each child is nice. I try to place the kids in old t-shirts or Art Aprons, if possible, to protect their clothing.

A Foam Plate is still our favorite paint tray. Only put a nickel sized spot of each color Acrylic Craft Paints that the child desires on the plate. You can always add more, but it doesn't waste as much if not used.

Table with art supplies. Stamps, cup of brushes, plate with paint and homemade paper artwork with flower stamps.

Tip: Keep Paper Towels right by the water the grands use to wash out the brushes. Teach them to swish the brush well in the water to get all the color out. Tap, tap, tap on the side of the glass to get some of the water out of the brush and then load the brush with paint. The Paper Towels work great if there is still too much water in the brush. The grands just wiped the brush lightly on the paper towel and then went on painting.

I still have that paper towel on my worktable- it is a work of art in and of itself. Isn’t it pretty? I may use it to tear up and add to a mixed media art piece. I regress…

Child in blue shirt stamping shapes on homemade paper.

The grands especially enjoyed using stamps on their paper. A set of foam backed Alphabet Stamps and a small group of Foam Stamps with designs were fun to use. These stamps are from a Bible School project some time ago, but similar ones can be purchased at a craft store very inexpensively. Some come in Foam Stamps sets.

We painted the stamp surface with the Acrylic Craft Paints or they dipped it into paint on their foam plates and then pressed them onto the handmade paper.

Tip- Have the grands do some practice stamping on an old piece of paper. This helps them to get the right amount of paint on the stamp. They also pressed too hard to start with and the Foam Stamps did funky, squishy prints. After a couple practice runs, they were much happier with the stamping results on their actual handmade paper.

This was a non-directed project, so the kids just went to it once all the supplies were out. They enjoy both directed and non-directed projects, so I like to sprinkle both into our activities to shake it up a bit.

Homemade paper on wooden table. Child's hands painting water on stamped painting of fish.

I was so pleasantly surprised at their designs. You may recognize Sponge Bob SquarePants and his pineapple under the sea. But there is also the solar system, a pond, and a garden. Don’t you love how the grand made a sunflower by using Foam Stamps for petals and leaves? Very clever.

Making recycled paper is a really cool project that the grands loved doing. The How to Easily Make Recycled Paper at Home post leads you right through the process. I had an art teacher thank me for making the directions so clear, she is using that project in her art class now. I’m so glad she found it helpful and I hope you will try it too.