It’s the week before Christmas and all through the house, “the kids are going crazy!” said you and your spouse. Enter a fun, easy, engaging craft for you and your little to do together…AND the end-result is some groovy homemade wrapping paper you can use to make Grandma go nuts on Christmas morning! Who doesn’t want homemade wrapping paper complete with art by their grandkids!?!
Go gather your supplies and meet me back here.
Ok, I’m going to make it real easy on you and cut right to the chase.
Here are the steps:
- Cut your potato in half. Use a knife to cut a simple shape into your potato. I did a larger triangle (a tree) on one half and a smaller triangle on the other half. I also did a star. Both turned out great.
- Put your large piece of paper (or use paper grocery bags cut on one side and laid flat! More sustainable AND cute to boot!) flat on a table or the floor. You might want to weigh it down with books or something heavy so it doesn’t roll up during the printing process.
- Use the paintbrush to brush paint on your potato evenly. Press the potato on your paper. Repeat as much as you like! I did a darker color for the larger tree and a lighter color for the smaller tree to create the illusion of near and far. It’s fun to play with this.
If you’re really into this kind of stuff (which I am!) you can hop on The Culture Canvas newsletter for more arts and culture resources for little global citizens! In fact, when you hop on the newsletter, you get the video of the whole class this activity is from! In this episode of my online interactive arts course for little global citizens, we dive into the work of Katsushika Hokusai, explore the concepts of Near and Far, and make this nifty wrapping paper! Check it out!
I hope you have as much fun making homemade wrapping paper as we did! It’s a great activity to keep kids busy during the break from the normal routine. And if Christmas is over and done, this activity works well ANY time of year to make a gift for any occasion extra special.
Exploring Always,
Abby
