Cup-Stamping Turtles

This stamped turtle craft is a nice and easy toddler activity idea.

Create your own turtle pond using instruments often found in your kitchen with this cute cup-stamping turtle painting activity.

I often refer to the second drawer in the kitchen as a secret treasure trove of delightful instruments to add to your child's play. Today, we use a kitchen staple to join our little art session.

Cup-Stamping Turtles

This is a great place to start if you want a painting activity with your toddler. Cup-stamping turtles. It is simple to set up, and your mini-artist can create a masterpiece with minimal steps.

This seemingly basic painting activity opens opportunities for lots of learning, too.

It explores cause and effect and encourages hand-eye coordination.

Cutting out the heads and legs allows your child to explore numeracy, refine bilateral coordination skills, and develop fine motor skills.

What you need to create Cup-Stamping Turtles:

If you don’t have a measuring cup, you can use the base of any bowl or cup for the stamping.

The reason we used the measuring cup was for the handle. The handle made the cup easier to hold as a stamp.

How to make Cup-Stamping Turtles:

Squeeze a portion of green paint onto the painting plate.

Using the base of the measuring cup, gently swirl the paint to suit the size of the base of the cup.

Position the painting plate opposite your child’s dominant side. For example, if your child is right-handed, place the paint on their left side.

This step encourages the child to reach their hand to the opposite side of their body.

Crossing the midline is an important life skill that can be developed through play with simple little adjustments such as this.

Now, the fun can begin!

Encourage the child to gently press the cup into the paint before stamping it onto their blue paper.

As they peel the cup from the paper, take a moment to observe what happened before repeating.

What happens if they stamp without redipping the cup?
Does giving the cup a little wiggle change the pattern?

This is a great time to experiment with different stamping techniques.

While the paint is drying, cut out the legs and heads for the turtles.

For older toddlers, ask them how many heads and legs they think they may need.

They can count the legs and heads as they are being cut and then also as they glue them onto their turtles’ paint-stamped shells.

Use the cotton tip to stamp black paint onto each of their heads. We also added a little dot of white to each eye to make them look friendlier.

Cup-Stamping Turtles is a fun painting project for toddlers. Making the turtles can be fun, such as extending a favorite book or celebrating World Ocean Day. With all the hidden learning happening throughout the activity, it is a must to add to your child’s art adventure.

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About the Author

Dani is a busy stay-at-home Mum of 3 and an early childhood teacher in training who is passionate about play-based learning throughout early childhood. For educational play ideas that you can do at home and parenting tips visit Play Inspired Mum Check her out on Instagram andFacebook