It has actually been a year since we did this craft. Last year (2020) I found some potted clover at the grocery store and decided to be festive for St. Patrick’s Day. I set it out in the middle of our kitchen table and an idea popped into my head. Just a month earlier we had used toilet paper/paper towel rolls to stamp hearts for Valentine’s Day. Why not try the same thing for St. Patrick’s Day, but stamp the hearts close together to make clovers?
This is perfect for a last minute craft because there’s few materials needed and there’s minimal prep!
All you need is:
- paper towel or toilet paper rolls
- green paint and paintbrushes
- paper plate or something else flat to use as a palette
- paper – we used craft paper but it would be fun to mix in different colors, textures and patterned paper
It is pretty easy to shape the toilet paper roll into a heart. You just pinch down on one end to make the bottom point and then push/fold down on top and pinch on either side to make the top part of the heart. You can shape it to make it more rounded but don’t worry if its a little pointy. Do this to both sides to help the roll keep its shape.
Pour out some green paint onto a paper plate or other flat surface and dip the heart shaped toilet paper roll into the paint. Next, stamp it onto paper. You will most likely need to dip every time you want to make a new leaf. Stamp the leaves around a center point to make it look like a three or four leaf clover. My kids used a paintbrush to add stems and paint the inside of the leaf. My 4 year old needed some help lining up the leaves so they form a clover but he eventually wanted to try all by himself and did pretty good. My three year old just had fun stamping all over the paper!
If you are using paper towel rolls, you can cut them down to smaller sizes to have more or make them easier to use so they are not so tall.
My favorite paints for kids are Crayola washable paints. I have never had any issues with them not wiping out or getting out of clothes.
Enjoy!
