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Foam Printmaking

Recently, I did styrofoam printmaking with my 4th/5th grade classes. Styrofoam printing is a relatively easy way to introduce printmaking to a group of kids. It is messy and can be challenging, so I’m providing a video demonstration in this blog post.

The materials needed are:

Four styrofoam print artworks are displayed in a 2x2 grid. Each print shows different designs in contrasting colors, with a bold "Foam Printmaking" text below. This setup showcases various printmaking techniques ideal for art projects.

For this project, I gave the students an open-ended theme. They could choose either 1. Something from Greek mythology (they were studying ancient Greece and Rome) or 2. Something from a book they read. This is very open-ended- it was just to give them a starting point. When they finished making one print, they could make another of anything they wanted.

Four styrofoam prints on colorful paper. Top left: "LOVE TURTLES" with a turtle. Top right: a figure Bottom left: abstract design. Bottom right: a figure labeled "HERA." Text below reads Styrofoam Printing.

On the first day, I showed them half of my demonstration video. Then, they sketched out ideas and transferred them to their printing plate.

On the second day, I showed them the second half of the video and then we started printing the images.

On the third day, any kids who were not done had time to finish up.

A yellow and black foam printmaking artwork depicts a stylized dinosaur-like creature with rectangular shapes and surrounding triangles.

There is also a way to do Styrofoam printing using just washable markers. You can see a tutorial here.

Here is another lesson using Styrofoam printing of arctic animals with first grade.

This lesson on PEACE was a hit with my students.

Have fun creating your own Valentine’s day cards in this heart printing project.


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About Marcia Beckett

Marcia is an elementary art teacher and loves painting, drawing, sculpture, art journaling and clay. Her blog, Art is Basic, features many exciting art projects for kids.

One Response to Foam Printmaking

  1. toni webber says:

    I can’t wait to try this! Thank you!

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

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