Positive/Negative Space Stencils-- First Grade

Here are some fun pictures we made by creating our own stencils.

First, the kids looked at little animal figurines for ideas.  I did not limit them to drawing just the animals, so some chose to turn their animals into mythical creatures or draw something else entirely.  They drew their animal on tag board, cut it out and then used that as a stencil.

The students traced their animal stencil over and over again, flipping it around and arranging their composition. 

In addition, they were able to use some of my letter and shape stencils from a box I had.

Then, they colored the negative space (background) of the picture.  They were to leave the positive space uncolored.  Some students chose to add defining details (such as eyes).

This student did not want to make an animal stencil, but chose to make a wizard instead!

Stencil Tutorial

I love the look of stencils, but since I have a toddler I like the process to be easy and quick to clean up.  I need to be ready to switch gears at a moments notice :)  I've tried using spray inks for the stencils and paints, but this way I just tried seems to be an easy and neat way to make stencil prints.

Use rubber stamp ink pads.  I love this Color Box set with a rainbow of colors.

Each section can be removed.

Place your stencil on your paper.  Hold with one hand tightly, or tape in place.  Then dab the rubber stamp ink pad up and down on the stencil.  You can twist and turn the ink pad gently as well.

Finished stencil print.  The colors are vibrant and the image has good coverage.