Try this fun and easy bath mat printmaking activity. Use your bath mat to create beautiful and unique art prints for kids. Printmaking project and post by Benares Angeley of Children’s Art Lab.
Updated March 2025
Ideas come to me anywhere and everywhere…even at TJ Maxx.
Office supply stores and old hardware stores are typically my favorites. I love checking out highlighters and varieties of post-it notes, or perusing bins of bolts and screws. And inevitably I stumble upon materials I can use at the art studio.
This particular day found me at TJ Maxx, looking for a set of new sheets for my daughter. I did not expect to find an aisle dedicated to printmaking with young children! But inspiration struck me in the bath mat aisle—the plastic, bumpy kind of mats that go inside the tub so you don’t slip and fall.
They come in beautiful blues and greens, and are made up of all kinds of patterns—raised circles, diamonds, even ones that are a little fuzzy.
They looked perfect for some giant printmaking activities! And the price was right, too—only around $5 for a super cool printmaking tool that I knew my preschool age class would love!
Bath Mat Printmaking For Kids
MATERIALS
- Bath mats in various sizes, textures, and patterns
- Washable tempera paint
- Large paintbrushes
- Rollers and/or brayers
- Large sheets of paper, 12”x18”
INSTRUCTIONS
- Observe the patterns, shapes and lines in the bathmats
First I encouraged the kids to notice the various shapes and textures. Just running our hands over the mats was a delightfully bumpy and silly experience that brought on smiles and giggles!
- Bring on the paint!
This particular group of kids (ages 3-5) LOVES to get messy, so I knew they would dig spreading paint over the mats.
We used brushes, rollers, and even fingers and hands to cover the surface of the mats with paints. I limited the colors of the paints to reds and pinks so we wouldn’t wind up with a muddy brown muck.
This was fun to work on in pairs—one child on either side of the table, working together.
Spreading the paint over the mat is a wonderful sensory experience, and some kids loved the challenge of getting paint over the entire surface.
- Make a print!
Lay the large paper over the paint-covered mat and press gently with your hands.
Then, pull off the paper for the big reveal—we like to say “voila!” for extra emphasis!
- Repeat!
Keep going until you run out of paper! Each reveal is just as fun as the first one!
I hope you enjoy this fun and easy bath mat printmaking activity!
More Printmaking Activities for Kids
- How to Do Balloon Printing for Kids
- How to Do Printmaking for Kids
- How to Do Muffin Tin Printing with Kids
- How to Do Mandala Printmaking for Kids
- Painting with Bubble Wrap for Kids
- How to Make Fruit and Vegetable Prints
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