Intro
Don't have exactly the stamper that you're looking for? Make it yourself using foam cubes,
foam sheets, foam shapes and more! This activity is a fun way to demonstrate how
children can make their own unique tools for artmaking.

Set Up Ideas
Have a variety of foam items for stamper bases like cubes and foam sheets and have a
separate tray or area with shapes to make the actual stamper patterns. Use glue sticks for
non-sticky foam shapes.

Let’s Get Started
The main ingredient in this activity is foam! To create your own unique stampers, you'll
need to gather foam cubes, sheets, various unique foam shapes and glue. You may use
pre-cut foam shapes or cut your own from foam sheets!

Tips and Tricks
Get creative with the shapes you use. Pre-cut foam shapes are great for well-defined
objects, but creating your own shapes from foam sheets or other materials can produce
interesting results.

Follow up Activity
Reusing materials is a great way to "do something new with something old." Encourage
children to try doing something new with something old and then tell the class about it.

Talk about inventions and how inventions are made from necessity and a lack of
solution. If you don't have something you need, try making it first! You can also discuss
how rather than throwing things away, sometimes we can reuse them in unique ways.

Steps:

1. In this open-ended activity, children can experiment with creating their own stampers.
   Below are a few guidelines, but encourage out-of-the-box thinking.
2. Give kids an example of bases by sticking foam cubes together to create the desired size,
   cutting foam sheets to the desired size, etc.
3. Show kids how to either paste or stick on letters, shapes and more to create the stamper
   they want.
4. Have the children test their creations and practice by making pictures using the unique
   stampers they’ve created.