Exploring Space - Stamping Stars

I thought I had it all planned out.  I gathered the supplies and prepared the tray the night before, and in my mind I thought this would be the perfect activity for Hannah to do while I nursed William in the morning.  Lesson Learned - test it out ahead of time if you want it to run smoothly...

Day Three - Stamping Stars

Sometimes you learn things from mistakes, but today's project lead to more trial by fire lessons for me.  First the ink pads - while metallic and seemingly perfect for this project - didn't stamp well on the paper,  then the stamps - geared toward kids - just weren't user friendly.  Hannah still had a great time, and luckily I have LOTS of ink pads in my craft room, but I'd do things slightly differently next time.

Cost - Low

I had everything on hand, but even if you had to run to the craft store, this project would still be fairly cheap.  You just need four things:

Paper
You can use anything from printer paper, construction paper, or scrapbook paper.  I'd make sure that the texture was minimal so that the stamped image is clear, but other than that this choice is up to you.

Ink
Craft stores have ink pads in various sizes, colors, and prices so pick what works for you.  I ended up using a White Craft pad from Stampin' Up.  The ink is thicker which helped it to stand out on the dark blue paper which was supposed to look like the night sky.

Stamps
Again, fit your theme.  Obviously we're studying space, so I dusted off this finger stamp set I'd bought a while back and pointed out the more 'space' themed images.  Later in the evening I found some other star stamps and she played with those as well.  Clear stamps mounted on acrylic blocks would be great for toddlers, as they can easily see what and where they're stamping, but traditional wood mount stamps are generally easier to hold.  These particular stamps were difficult to hold, and if you slid your finger into the handle as intended, it was hard for Hannah to provide the even pressure needed to stamp a clear image.  I wouldn't recommend these stamps.

Surface
I wrapped a cookie sheet in tin foil.  The edges of the pan kept everything contained and Hannah could clearly see the work surface.  The tin foil protected the pan and made clean up a breeze.

Messiness - Medium

Hannah did a great job of keeping the ink on the paper so the clean up was minimal, but you really need to supervise them while they stamp.  Depending on the type of ink you choose, this could be very messy.  There are ink pads geared towards children online that are washable.  If you plan on doing this type of activity often, that might be something you'd want to invest in.

Prep Time - Low

Once you've located the items, you simply cut the paper into about 4x6 sized sheets, and arrange the tray.  (I did this the night before.)  I offered a stack of blank cards on the left of the tray and had room for her to place completed cards to the right.

Educational Value - Low

This activity was purely fun - and Hannah loved it.  She did surprise me by separating her stamps by color, and she was VERY proud of her sorting.  It was neat to see her take a skill that I quietly (and sometimes rather blatantly) try to incorporate in our daily tasks and do it without being prompted.  

Expansion Ideas: Match the information to the children's age.  You could add circle stamps for planets, offer more ink color options, or show them pictures of the solar system and constellations to recreate. 

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Come back tomorrow for more SPACE themed toddler / preschool activities.  Make sure to follow me on Pinterest and check out my Space themed board.

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