Kids love stamps. There’s something so satisfying about creating a perfect drawing on paper using stamps. They can be combined to create something fantastic and unique. Somehow, kids never grow bored using stamps.

It’s hard to find regular old stamps around here (in Guatemala). Most of them are made for teachers and have something like “Excelente!” written on them. So, I decided to put together some DIY stamps for kids…specifically for Peanut with some of his favorite things. I put them together for his birthday. He was thrilled!

These DIY stamps for kids are ideal for throwing into a busy bag for church, a meeting or long car ride. You could also break them out when you need a bit of quiet time at home. Peanut loved getting these out while his sister was napping – which was perfect timing. He was quietly busy, and his sister didn’t get in his way trying to destroy  play with them as well.

How did I do it?

DIY Stamps for Kids – the How To

These are very simple to put together, and cheap!

First, what do you need?

Materials: foam paper, silicone glue (or hot glue), tree cookies, markers

I used some left over tree cookies my husband had cut for our DIY magnets. These tree cookies provide the base upon which the stamp form sits.

To make the stamp forms, I simply traced each tree cookie on the foam paper to check the size. Then, within that circle, I drew shapes and designs I knew Peanut would enjoy.

Then I cut them out and glued them down on the tree cookies. That’s it!

How Do These DIY Stamps Work?

You could of course use a stamp pad with these stamps, but I decided to incorporate a bit more fine motor practice into this activity. I bought Peanut a brand new set of markers. So, you have to color in each stamp with a marker, and then stamp it down on the page.

It does require some patience because you have to re-color each time you want to make a stamp impression. But, it also means that there’s a great variety of colors to use which isn’t offered by a stamp pad unless you buy a whole bunch.

Peanut got very creative and enjoyed drawing tracks for the “train” – really intended to be a truck, but he says it’s a train. He also decorated the pine tree with Christmas decorations. So, as you can see there are lots of possibilities for fun with these DIY stamps.

In addition to allowing free play with these stamps, you could also use them for practicing patterns or for writing words, even a story, the sky’s the limit.

Inspired? I’d love to see your DIY stamps! What designs and shapes will you include?