# Citrus Stamping
> Hollow out lemon and orange halves, let them dry, then dip them in paint and stamp colorful citrus prints. This open-ended art activity lets toddlers stamp freely and lets older kids make patterns, flowers and faces.
- URL: https://www.funlittles.com/art-activities-kids-citrus-stamping/
- Ages: 2–6 yrs · Difficulty: easy · Mess: medium
- Time: prep 30 min, activity 20 min
- Works for: one-on-one, small group, whole class
- Skills: fine-motor, hand-eye-coordination, colors, patterns, creativity, comparing
- Cautions: citrus, food-dye, ingestion-risk

## Materials (one batch)
- 2 piece Lemons
- 1 piece Oranges
- Water-soluble acrylic paint
- 2 sheet Paper
- 1 piece Paper plates (paint palettes) (household)
- 1 piece Knife (household)
- 1 piece Coffee spoon or paring knife (household)
- White paint (optional)
- Lemon and orange Kool-Aid drink mix (optional)

## Substitutions
- Instead of acrylic paint: Washable kids tempera paint, finger paint or liquid watercolors (These were also tested. The kids found the water-soluble acrylics gave the best results.)

## Safety
- An adult does all the cutting and scooping with the knife.
- Citrus juice stings eyes and small cuts. Keep hands away from faces and wash hands after stamping.
- Painted fruit is not food. Don't let kids mouth or eat the stamps, and throw them away after the activity.
- Acrylic paint can be hard to remove from clothes once it dries. Use smocks or old clothes and cover the table.
- Supervise toddlers closely during paint play.

## Before you start
- Adult: cut a few lemons and oranges in half crosswise to show the cross section.
- Adult: scoop out the flesh with the back of a coffee spoon (or a paring knife), gently squeezing out the juice as you go. Save the fruit and juice to enjoy.
- Lay the hollowed-out halves to dry for a while before stamping.

## Steps
1. Set out paper, the dried fruit halves and puddles of paint on paper plates.
2. Pick your favorite colors and say their names.
3. Dip the cut side of a lemon or orange half into the paint.
4. Press the fruit firmly onto the paper, then lift it straight up to see the print.
5. Keep stamping with different fruits and colors.
6. Try making a pattern, a flower or a face with your prints.
7. Compare your prints: which fruit and which paint make the clearest stamps?

## Tips
- The water-soluble acrylics were the BEST. The kids quickly saw which paint gave them the best results.
- Lemons gave the best prints in this stamping project.
- We got to save the fruit before using them for stamping, and we drank the orange juice!
- My toddler enjoyed just stamping away with a variety of colors, while my 5 year old was more meticulous and wanted patterns.
- Letting kids choose their favorite colors is a great opportunity to reinforce colors.
- Let older kids make comparisons between paints and fruits. Ours did it all on her own.

## The original post by TurkeyMom (2013)

With the kids back in school we often have quite a few after-school classes. On those days when we are home in the evenings, the kids almost often request for [**art activities.**](https://www.funlittles.com/category/art-projects/) Knowing that our once a week "at-home" day is coming up I had planned (!) a stamping project earlier during the day. My toddler especially enjoys all stamping projects. We have done **[cookie cutter stamping project](https://www.funlittles.com/st-patricks-day-activities-shamrock-printing/), [potato hearts stamping,](https://www.funlittles.com/valentine-art/) [forks stamping project](https://www.funlittles.com/spring-art-tulip-painting/),** kitchen tools stamping. Today we stamp with lemons and oranges! This is the second time we have used fruits during play and learning time. Both the times we actually *ate* the fruits. Click to see how we have previously created a [**fruits sensory bin.**](https://www.funlittles.com/sensory-activities-fruits-exploration-and-whole-fruit-vs-sliced-fruit/) I did a cross section cut on a few lemons and oranges and used the back of a coffee spoon to scoop out the flesh from the fruits. ( You can always use a pairing knife for this job) While I was scooping out the flesh I also tried to gently squeeze the juice out from the fruits. Once I had emptied the fruits, I laid them to dry for a while. Dry citrus fruits ready for some fun art activities for the kids.

 ***I was really excited that we got to save the fruit before using them for stamping projects.*** I set out papers, the fruits and paint for a fun open ended stamping project.We used water soluble acrylic paints, washable kids tempera paint, finger paint and liquid watercolors to see which one gave the kids the best experience during the art activity. Both the kids were very excited to engage in this art activity! They were particularly thrilled about using the fruits with my toddler being the first one to notice that the "fruit inside is gone" Not missing a beat the 5 year old went " Yes she removed them silly! We drank the orange juice remember!" The kids went on to choose their favorite colors *{ opportunity to reinforce colors }* and started stamping away. They quickly saw which paint gave them the best results. The water soluble acrylics were the BEST! They also saw that the lemons gave them the best prints in this stamping project.  The 5 year old was the one making comparisons..

 My toddler enjoyed just stamping away with a variety of colors

 My 5 year old was more meticulous with the art activity and wanted patterns. She is a pattern-lover. She made a flower and a face with lemon prints.



 This open ended art activity gave them a chance to express their creativity while enhancing their hand eye ordination.  Love the colorful artwork.



The face just looks adorable.



 **Make the art activity into a scented stamping project**

- Take some white paint in different containers.
- Mix in lemon Kool-Aid and orange Kool-Aid
- You get yourself scented citrus smelling paints.
- Use them in your stamping project to make scented art!

**Thanks for reading**