messy texture printing for kids

I did some messy texture printing with my son, who is 3, and at work with a group learning family crafts.

I put a tablecloth down (on a coffee table in my house) and chose some textured items like bubble wrap, a toothbrush, sandpaper, cling film and foil crumpled up, lego blocks and sticklebrick piece, a toy car with tread marks on the wheels, wool, string, a cotton reel, corrugated cardboard and a brush, sponge dabber and roller.

I put out some acrylic paints and let my son play about by dabbing the textured things in the paint and stamping them on the paper. He enjoyed it.

Here's when the adult community group learning family crafts had a go at the same activity:

They also enjoyed it!

This activity is more for "process" than product. It's a nice way for children to experiment with making marks and finding out about different textures. However if you want to make it into something, we chopped up my son's one and made part of it into a birthday card...