Jumbo Stamp Art

My son really enjoyed our Postage Paid coin-counting activity. To capitalize on his interest in the stamps, I thought I'd help him design a jumbo one.

Before he started the craft, I reminded him what stamps were – that they are like receipts to prove we’ve paid to mail our letter or package. Then we read a fun fiction book about delivering the mail: Tortoise Brings the Mail by Dee Lillegard.

In this book, Tortoise loves delivering the mail but many other animals think they can do it just as well but faster. After several take a turn at it, they discover that there is no one better for the job than Tortoise. The illustrations are beautiful and the story is heartfelt. As usual when I check out books from the library that my son loves, he asked, “Do we have to return this to the library?”

After we finished the story, we read Mir Tamim Ansary’s book about collecting stamps. The book shows lots of real stamps from all over the world and gives suggestions for different types of stamp collections kids can start. My son was excited to see a stamp with a familiar face on it – Abraham Lincoln’s!

When we were done reading, I handed my son a piece of cardstock with a rectangle in the center. I told him it was time for him to design his own stamp and determine its value. He settled on 88 cents, and added the number and a Christmas scene depicting Ziggy, our Elf on the Shelf, inside the rectangle.

After his drawing was complete, he used my Martha Stewart Punch All Over the Page™ 1 ½-inch circle punch. I helped him line it up to punch half circles all around the sides to make the stamp’s perforated edges. I love the final result. Don’t you?