Kids and stamps

Looking for something fun to do when its raining, or freezing or just too hot to be outside? Something besides sitting in front of the TV all day? Think outside of the box – think rubber stamps.

Kids love rubber stamps. They provide the instant gratification that rewards a child with that "I did it" feeling they all love. A blank piece of paper can be magically transformed with the thrill of stamps – which can come in all shapes, sizes and depict a limitless amount of images. Rubber stamps can literally be customized to appeal to your child’s likes specifically. You can use rubber stamps to create wonderful flower gardens with stamps of flowers – your child draws the grass, sky, birds and other parts of a beautiful spring day, and that’s just one example of the fun, creative art you and your child can create with rubber stamps.

Rubber stamps come in two kinds – hand stamps and self-inking stamps, both of which are fascinating to children, but for different reasons. Traditional rubber stamps have the handle and use an ink pad – great for working on your toddler’s fine motor skills and the process of cause and effect – press the stamp on the stamp pad, then on the paper and see the word or image appear! Self-inking stamps are self-contained and can be re-inked. Press down on a self-inking stamp and – presto – the image appears! How does it work? Where does the ink come from? All topics to explore with a curious child.

Rubber stamps can also be great learning tools. If you have a rubber stamp for your child’s name, you can use the impressions it makes to teach your child how to write his or her name. Think of all the time you will save since you won’t be the one writing and re-writing your child’s name over and over again as they master their letters. Or, teach your child his or her shapes by using rubber stamps in various shapes – triangles, squares, circles, for example. You pick the size of the shape, but think about making it large enough so your child can color it in.

Looking for an alternative to expensive, personalized stationary for your child? You can have your child’s name (just their first name, or first and last) put on a rubber stamp, and even include their favorite thing (a fire truck, a butterfly – whatever, the choice is yours)! Use that personalized stamp to adorn plain, inexpensive cards to create the same effect of personalized cards. Making personalized cards with stamps is a great, cost effective solution, especially because the rubber stamp can be used for hundreds of impressions, resulting in hundreds of personalized note cards for a fraction of the price!