Potato stamp snowman craft for toddlers

Age: 2+ · Time: 20 min · For: Ages 3–5

Potato stamping is a classic for good reason: it is cheap, easy and the prints always look great. Three potatoes of different sizes make the body, middle and head of a snowman, and your toddler can stamp a whole family of them.

What your child does, where you help

Your child: stamps the snowmen and adds snowflake fingerprints.
You: cut the potatoes and draw the details with older toddlers.

Variations

Snowman card: stamp on folded dark card.
Snowy village: add stamped houses with a square potato.
Star potato: a grown-up carves a star shape for the sky.

Safety

The knife stays with the grown-up. Use washable paint and wash hands afterwards.

You need

3 potatoes in different sizes, one large, one medium and one small
a knife and chopping board (for the grown-up)
kitchen roll
white paint (washable poster paint or finger paint)
a flat plate for the paint
a sheet of dark blue, black or dark green paper
felt tips or paint in other colours for the hat, scarf and buttons

Steps

A grown-up cuts each potato in half with one straight cut so the cut side is flat.
Pat the cut sides dry with kitchen roll; dry potatoes print better.
Spread a thin layer of white paint on the plate.
Let your child press the large potato in the paint and print it near the bottom of the paper. That is the snowman's body.
Print the medium potato just above it, and the small one on top as the head.
Let it dry for about 15 minutes.
Add a hat, scarf, eyes, a carrot nose and buttons with felt tips or paint. Finish with white fingerprint snowflakes all around.