Potato-Print Wrapping Paper

What You'll Need

• Newspaper
• Kitchen knife
• 1 or more potatoes
• Pencil
• Poster paints
• Paper plates
• Scrap paper
• A roll of white paper, kraft paper, or a paper grocery bag

What to Do

1. Cover your work surface with newspaper.
2. Have an adult cut each potato in half crosswise.
3. Using a pencil, kids can outline a shape on each cut end of the potato. An adult should cut away the outer edge of the shape, leaving the kids’ image as a “stamp.”
4. Pour poster paint onto paper plates.
5. Dip the end of the potato in paint. Stamp off excess on a scrap piece of paper.
6. Press the potato onto the wrapping paper or on the unprinted side of a cut-open grocery bag. Cover the paper with potato prints.
7. When the paper is dry, use it to wrap a gift.

Sponge-Print Wrapping Paper

What You’ll Need

• Newspaper
• Scissors
• A clean sponge
• Poster paints
• A roll of white paper, kraft paper, or a paper grocery bag
• A bowl
• A jar lid (becomes the handle for your sponge stamp)
• Water

What to Do

1. Cover your work surface with newspaper.
2. Using scissors, cut a clean sponge into a familiar or freeform shape. Make the shape smaller than your jar lid. Glue the sponge to the top of the lid and let dry.
3. Pour a small amount of poster paint in a bowl. Dampen the sponge stamp with water and dip it in paint, wiping off excess paint on the side of the bowl.
4. Stamp different places on the paper or on the unprinted side of a cut-open grocery bag.
5. When dry, use the paper to wrap presents.