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Valentine Potato Print Hearts

Feb 6, 20136,914 views
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Valentine Art with Potato Prints Save
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potato hearts valentine art for toddlers Save
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by TurkeyMom in Art Projects

Ages2–5 yrs
Prep20 min
Activity20 min
Leveleasy
MessMedium
Works for1:1 · Small group · Class

Carve raised heart stamps from halved potatoes and print red and pink hearts all over white paper. Add heart cookie cutters to stamp outlines and make concentric hearts.

⚠️ Safety first

  • Adult does all the potato carving with a sharp knife, away from the kids.
  • Supervise toddlers closely so paint and raw potato don't go in mouths.
  • Use washable, non-toxic kids' paint and cover the table.

Before the kids arrive

  • Halve the potatoes and draw hearts of different sizes on the cut faces.
  • Cut away the potato around each heart so the heart is a little raised. This is your heart stamp.

Steps

  1. Adult: cut a potato in half and draw a heart on each cut face, one big and one small.

  2. Adult: cut away the potato around each heart so the heart stands a little raised.

  3. Pour red and pink paint onto plates.

  4. Dip a potato heart in paint and press it firmly onto the white paper.

  5. Stamp away! Make patterns with the hearts and try to cover the whole sheet.

  6. Dip a heart cookie cutter in paint and stamp heart outlines.

  7. Stamp potato hearts inside the cookie cutter hearts to make concentric hearts.

  8. Use the potato as a painting tool and "paint" all over your stamped hearts.

  9. Let the prints dry, then turn them into Valentine's Day cards or a booklet, or hang them on the wall.

Tips

  • Stamping with household objects captures toddlers' interest immediately. They have seen mom or dad use that object for something else, so they're instantly curious.from the author
  • Mine started off stamping one heart over the other. As she watched her older sister make patterns and cover the whole white sheet, she tried to imitate that. It's good to have siblings to encourage kids to try new activities.from the author
  • Let kids explore the potato stamp fully. My toddler ended up using it as a painting tool, and that's part of the fun.from the author
  • Not every kid is big on themed colors. My preschooler said, "I want my hearts to be green." Have a non-Valentine color on hand.from the author

Make it your own

  • Turn the heart prints into Valentine's Day cards.
  • Bind the prints into a small booklet.
  • Simply display the Valentine art on your wall.
  • Use cookie cutters for outlined and concentric hearts.
  • Let kids pick their own colors, like green hearts.

The story behind it

By TurkeyMom · February 2013
Valentine Art with Potato Prints
Like many of you, we love playing with paint in various ways. My toddler has a new found interest – printing with objects. What's more fun than making Valentine art with it?
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Valentine Potato Print Hearts: the original post

Like many of you, we love playing with paint in various ways. We have painted with spaghetti brushes, explored resist painting and have even painted trees. My toddler has a new found interest – printing with objects. Stamping or printing with household objects captures her interest immediately because she has seen mom/dad use the said object for something else. She is instantly curious. What’s more fun than making Valentine art with this new found love? The patterns thus emerging from the printing activity are such a treat to watch for young ones anyway. Seeing my toddler have fun printing, my pre schooler who is usually not into anything that requires doing the same thing over again was kind of interested. Good to have siblings to encourage the kids to try and experience new activities. For the Valentine art supplies needed are very basic. Potatoes and Paint. I first drew different sizes of hearts on 2 pieces of (halved) potatoes. I cut off the part surrounding the heart so that it leaves the heart to be little raised. This is will be your heart stamp.

stamps from potatoes for valentines day activities With reds and pinks, we stamped away.. It was interesting to see my toddler learn as the process evolves. Mine started off stamping one heart over the other. As she watched her older sister making patterns with hearts and covering the entire white sheet she tried to imitate that. I brought out the cookie cutters and we did concentric hearts. Potato hearts inside cookie cutter hearts gave this Valentine art activity a new dimension.

potato printing valentine art

My toddler was all about fully experiencing the potato stamps and creating beautiful valentine art with it. After stamping she used the potato as a stamping tool and “painted” all over her stamped hearts using the potato as a painting tool.

Valentine art for kids Here are all the heart prints. We have so many options :turn them into Valentine’s day cards, booklet or simply display this Valentine art on your wall.

valentines art My preschooler is not big on themed colors.. Here are our green hearts..”I want my hearts to be green.”

potato hearts valentine art for toddlers

Other Valentine’s day crafts we have done.

Thanks for reading

What readers say

💬 1 comments

🎉 Worked for us

Another family tried it too

A reader found the post on Pinterest after doing the same potato heart printing with her own kids that weekend.

“We did this over the weekend:) Great minds think alike.”
jaime@FSPDT, Jan 2014

Tried it?

Reviewed before it appears. No links, and please no children's names.

Read all 1 comments

  1. jaime@FSPDT · Jan 2014

    Hi, just came across this on pinterest( randomly). We did this over the weekend:) Great minds think alike. Will added a link to this in my post!

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