Did you know that if you cut an apple across it’s middle you will find a perfect little star inside? If you’ve never done it before the result is really pretty neat. And it just so happens that the halves become perfect stamping tools for children to make an apple art project!
I got the idea for this stamping project while reading a book to our children called Our Apple Tree by Gorel Kristina Naslund. In the book, there is a picture of an apple cut in half so that you can see the star inside. Below it there are three pictures that look like stamping prints made from the apple. I loved the look of it and thought it would be a lot of fun to see if we could make our own apple stamp prints!
Then I remembered the apples our children had picked from their Papa and Nana’s house a few weeks ago which are starting to go bad. We haven’t eaten all of them and instead of throwing the rest away I thought it would be perfect to use them for this stamping project.
I chose to have the children do this in an open-ended fashion rather than guide them to stamp a particular shape or picture. At their young age, I think it’s often more enjoyable for them to explore and create their own picture rather than being directed to create something specific.
This is a very simple art project to complete and the results can be very pretty.
Here’s how to do it:
- Cut an apple in half across the middle horizontally. Have your child use one apple half per color so that the colors don’t get mixed.
- Gently pick out any seeds that are on the inside.
- Put two (or more) colors of tempera paint on a palette, tray or plate.
- Have your child dip the cut part of the apple into the paint so that the inside (flesh) is covered.
- Help your child scrape away any excess paint onto the side of the palette, tray or plate (or use a paper towel and blot).
- Your child can then begin stamping with their apple onto a thick piece of paper to create their own work of art!
The stars weren’t showing up because there was too much paint on the apple. That’s why Step #5 is important.
You can see the center star in some but not all of the stamp prints because there was too much paint on the apple. Again, Step #5 is important!
After completing this project and realizing that the appropriate amount of paint on the apple was critical for getting the right results, I thought of another option for applying the paint. Using a paintbrush to paint the inside of the apple rather than dipping the apple in paint would be a way to better control the amount of paint that goes onto the apple. And in turn the stamp prints might turn out better.
However, depending on the age of your child they may have more fun with the project if they are able to dip and stamp. That’s a lot of fun for little ones and having them enjoy the process is really important. So, it’s up to you to decide what will work better for your child.
If you try doing this stamping project with your child please leave a comment and let me know how it turns out. I’d love to hear!
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