1Prepare the potatoes.

This craft is a great way to use produce that you are planning to dispose of soon. Wash the potatoes well and wipe them dry.

2Make the potato stamps.

We made our potato stamps using two methods. Both are described below.

a.)  Method 1 - cut the potato in half. Carve out the desired shape on the potato's cut side.

Carve out some details, if you like.

You can even make a handle by carving out the top of the potato stamp.

b.)  Method 2 - cut the potato into 1-inch thick cross sections. Carve the entire cross section into the desired shape.

Cut some wedges and keep small potato trimmings as well. These are great for stamping smaller shapes and other details on your picture.

3Prepare the paint and paper.

Prepare the paper or fabric that you plan to stamp on.

Place different colors of tempera or poster paint on plastic plates or shallow containers. Add some water and mix well. If you plan to stamp on fabric, use fabric paint or acrylic paint.

4Dip a stamp in paint.

Dip a potato stamp in paint, making sure that the bottom of the stamp is covered evenly with paint.

5Press the stamp onto paper.

Press the stamp firmly onto the paper or fabric.

6Have fun stamping.

Enjoy stamping using all your potato stamps. Remember to wipe the stamps when changing colors or you can assign specific stamps for each color.

7Create a picture.

Use your potato stamps to compose a picture. For this underwater scene, the sea creatures were made using potato stamps. The sea weed as well as the ocean floor were made by stamping with potato wedges. Bubbles and the details on the fishes were finger painted.