Rolling Pin Shamrock Prints

I love creating things with shapes and this printmaking activity uses shapes to create something new! Heart stickers work together to create different sized shamrocks. You could do this on lids and make stamps like these but we opted for a rolling pin! Using a rolling pin was a novel idea for my three-year-old who was not even born yet the last time we used a rolling pin for print making.  I loved the way that the shamrock prints turned out and how it looks like a field of shamrocks. It’s a fun St.Patrick’s day art project but you could make all sorts of shapes and designs any time of year.

Gather your materials. You will need a rolling pin, paper, board, painter’s tape, aluminum foil, foam heart stickers, green paint, glitter glue, a big tray or board, and green marker.

Start by covering your table with paper and securing it with the painter’s tape. Cover the rolling pin with aluminum foil.

I showed my daughter a shamrock we had and then added the three heart stickers on the rolling pin for her to compare.

Then she added another layer of heart stickers. We repeated this four more times. I wanted her to understand that the shamrock was a combination of the three hearts. While she did that I spread the paint out on the cutting board. As per my little glitter loving child’s request I added glitter glue to the paint as well.

Roll the paint on.

Roll it on the paper. The first time we did this we had a big section of our rolling pin that had no stickers on it and it made big sections of paint. So we wiped the foil down and added some more. Then it worked way better!

The prints dry to the touch pretty quickly. As long as you don’t have too much paint. So after you are done printing grab a marker and add the stems!

After that, you can use your shamrock prints to wrap up a little St. Patrick’s day surprise. Or just pop it on the wall like we did!

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Want more great ideas for preschool activities? Check out our Build Preschool Thematic Curriculum Units!