Printmaking is such a fun processes to do with children because its simple and fun.
Lego’s completely lend themselves to printmaking since they come in so many interesting shapes and sizes. So, send the kids on a hunt through the house for all those miscellaneous Lego pieces. The stranger the shapes the better, but don’t overlook your basic shapes either, you’ll want them too.
A natural subject matter for Lego Printmaking you’ll find will be Robots, because of the mechanical and geometric nature of Lego design. Therefore, if you’d like to pair this project with a book, one of my favorite robot books for young ones is Rolie Polie Olie by William Joyce. If your children are older, consider reading or watching the Iron Giant, by Ted Hughes, directed by Brad Bird, one of my all time favorites.
You will need:
Assorted Lego pieces
Black Paint (tempera/poster paint)
Paper Plate (paint palette)
Plain Paper (any kind)
I always suggest using tempera/poster paint at home because it is washable, but really any heavier body paint will do. Watercolors might be challenging, but if you mix them with enough water and mix them well to get them as opaque as possible, they will work too. The paper plate is to be used as a paint palette. You’ll want just enough paint on the plate to thinly cover the surface. This will be implemented like an ink pad. If too much paint is on the plate it will make the impressions very globby, too little paint will not give enough coverage for detail. I always have scratch pieces of paper at hand to test out my stamping before committing to my good paper (but that’s just my OCD!)
I love this project because the possibilities are endless. It offers young master-builders yet another avenue for creating in the amazing medium of LEGO!
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