How to Make Easter Stamps

Use a potato and Easter cookie cutters to make stamps.

Making your own Easter stamps provides a fun activity for children of all ages and provides a way for parents and children to spend quality time together. Parental involvement is necessary for young children to create the stamps, and even older children need adult supervision while using a knife. You can create customized stamps in many different shapes including eggs, bunnies, flowers, baskets, chicks and other spring objects by using small cookie cutters or paper templates. Use the Easter stamps for decorating wrapping paper, making homemade Easter cards or to create painted Easter decorations.

Things You'll Need

• Russet potatoes
• Easter-shaped cookie cutters or paper template
• Permanent marker
• Knife

Instructions

1. Wash and dry the potatoes to remove dirt and dust. Do not peel them. One potato will make two stamps.

2. Cut each potato in half across the width, not lengthwise. Dry the cut end of the potato with a paper towel or cloth.

3. Place a cookie cutter flush against the cut end of the potato and lightly push the cookie cutter into the potato to indent the shape. Alternatively, draw around the cookie cutter with a permanent marker.

4. Cut around the lines of the design with a sharp knife, cutting down into the potato 1/2 inch. Cut the excess pieces off around the edges.

5. Allow the potato stamp to dry for an hour before using.

Tips & Warnings

• Choose potatoes that are long, fat and evenly shaped. Fatter potatoes will allow for larger shapes and longer potatoes provide a bigger handle for using the stamps.

• Instead of using cookie cutters, you can create paper templates. Use coloring book pages, cutouts from magazines or draw your own. Cut out the paper template, place it on the cut end of the potato and draw around it with a permanent marker.

• To use the stamps, dip the cutout shape into a small amount of acrylic or poster paint. You can also use a paintbrush to apply the paint to the stamp.

• Wash and dry the potato stamp after each use. Wrap the cut end of the potato with a paper towel and then cover it tightly with plastic wrap or place it in a plastic bag. Refrigerate the potato for one to three weeks, depending on the size and freshness of the potato. Discard the potato when it becomes soft.

• Never allow young children to cut the potato and always supervise older children.

• Using the potato stamps on a regular ink pad may cause damage to the ink pad.

Resources

• Oklahoma State University: Powerful Potato
• Kansas State University SustainED: Molly Barnicle