Making Stamps with Plasticine

I had seen posts on Pinterest where clay was used to form printing stamps. I had some plasticine at school that I find difficult to use with children since it is stiff to manipulate. Plasticine is a trademark name for an oil-based modeling clay that was developed by art teacher in England in 1897. I decided to use the plasticine to from stamps, but was a bit worried about the children's hands being covered in ink. I realized that I could press the plasticine onto a block of wood and it would adhere. The block of wood would keep their hands away from the ink.

I gave the children different "tools" such as popsicle sticks and clothes pins that could leave impressions in the plasticine. When they made a print I encouraged them to stamp over and over again to watch the images become lighter. As they stamped, the indentations also would begin to disappear. This had two advantages. One, their stamp would be cleaned off so that another color could be used. Two, they were left with a clean slate to make new impressions. And, let's face it, they like pounding with the stamps.