DIY Foam Tray Printmaking Activity

Clean flat foam trays — the kind produce comes in at the grocery store

A pencil or ballpoint pen for carving the design

Washable paint or block printing ink

A foam roller or wide flat brush

Paper

A flat tray for rolling paint

Clean a flat foam tray and trim off the raised edges with scissors so you have a flat, smooth rectangle.

Use a pencil or ballpoint pen to draw a design into the foam surface. Press firmly — the lines should indent clearly into the foam but not poke through.

Pour a small amount of paint onto a flat tray. Roll the foam roller through the paint until it is evenly coated.

Roll the paint evenly across the entire surface of the foam plate, covering the design.

Carefully lay a piece of paper on top of the inked foam. Press evenly with your hands or run a clean roller across the back of the paper.

Peel the paper up slowly to reveal the print. The indented lines stay clean while the raised surface transfers the paint.

Re-ink the foam plate and pull more prints. Each one will be slightly different, and you can print on different colored paper.

Remember that the print will be a mirror image of the drawing. If your child wants to include letters or words, they need to draw them backwards on the foam.

Even, thin paint coverage gives the best prints. Too much paint fills in the carved lines and you lose detail.

Pull four or five prints from the same plate. The second or third print is usually the cleanest.

This is real printmaking — the same basic technique used by professional print artists. The foam tray is just a simpler version of a linoleum block.

Try printing on different surfaces — colored paper, tissue paper, fabric scraps, even paper bags for a rustic look.