Create art that just "pops" off the page! Foil embossing uses simple materials and tools to inspire your child to create an intricate and ornate design filled with patterns, shapes, and pictures. This project is a great open-ended activity for budding artists who just want to discover different processes and mediums. Encourage your child to explore and experiment with the embossing process through this exercise. Try a variety of embossing from the simple to the more complex.
What You Need:
- Embossing foil, found in art supply or craft stores
- Wooden stylus, found in art supply or craft stores
What to Do:
- Brainstorm ideas. Start simple for the first time. Have your child try basic line, shape, or pattern drawing embossing. To avoid backwards images, don't use numbers or letters.
- Turn the embossing foil over. Your child will be “drawing” on the back of the foil. The finished side will be the opposite side from which your child will be drawing on.
- Using the wooden stylus, have your child firmly press into the foil as she draws lines. Let her experiment with the amount of pressure that it takes. It is alright if she accidentally tears a hole through the first or second piece of foil. Simply start over, and try again.
- Periodically, turn the embossing over to see what the other side looks like. The lines and image should “pop” off, or be raised off the foil.
- Turn the stylus over and use the flatter end to fill in large areas.
- Flip the foil to the front, and reveal the embossing!
As your child improves, introduce more complex concepts. For example, if your child started by drawing simple shapes, allow him to progress into a self-portrait that combines shapes into a face or move into a landscape scene with mountains and trees.
For another fun alternative, instead of using a craft store wooden stylus, try reusing old plastic styluses from a hand-held electronic game or cell phone.
By Erica Loop
Erica Loop has a MS in Applied Developmental Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh's School of Education. She has many years of teaching experience working in early childhood education, and as an arts educator at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh.
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