Potato Masher Printing

We're always on the lookout for new painting experiences and when we ran across this awesomely unique art project shared by Donna and Sherry over at Irresistible Ideas, we just had to pass it along because we know your kiddos will get a kick out of it! Who knew potato mashers belonged in the art center?!

Looking at the project pictures, one thing we noticed was that each of the potato mashers offered a unique combination of shape, pattern, material, etc. Draw your kiddos' attention to the differences and invite them to see if the variations cause apparent differences in the paint prints as well. Before beginning the project, Donna and Sherry set out the supplies and covered the tables with large sheets of paper for their students to create the prints on, but you might also consider inviting your students to explore potato masher printing on different types of surfaces {i.e. cardboard, felt, foam, bubble wrap, wood, etc.}. Additionally, while this is a great project for independent exploration, you might encourage your kiddos to try various color mixing techniques like layering, etc.

Not only does this art project provide your kiddos with an opportunity to explore lots of fun and unique art materials, it's also great collaborative project that will help your students learn to take turns and work together.

For lots of great pictures of this craft/project, be sure to visit Irresistible Ideas!