
This Printing Art Activity for Kids are easy to assemble and inexpensive. The end result is often a beautiful and creative piece of art work ready to be displayed in your home.
With that said, even though us adults get a cool piece of art to display, my favorite aspect, the one that is most beneficial to children, of this project is that it is about the process.
Children use their imagination to create and to invent. Having learned of this kids art activity in my Montessori training, after a bit of research, I was pleased to see some of my favorite blogs and people are also fans of this activity including The Artful Parent and Tinkerlab.
Printing Art with Q-Tips
Print Materials
- Muffin or popover pan
- Tempera Paint
(we used simply black to make a true mono print)
- Small brush
- Q-Tips
- Small pieces of card stock or printing paper

“The important thing is to create” ~ Pablo Picasso
Print Approach
- Invite your child to and demonstrate the activity
- Turn the muffin pan face down with the bottoms up
- Brush paint with a small brush onto the bottoms of the muffin pan
- Take a Q-Tip and create designs on the bottoms of the muffin pan
- Take the card stock and lightly press onto the bottoms of the muffin pan
- Encourage the child to explore with pressing heavily and pressing lightly, mixing of colors, and other household objects
