Make a Summer Solstice Handprint Sun Art Poster

Today we are celebrating the upcoming summer solstice. The summer solstice will arrive, in Toronto, on June 20th at about 7 pm. What does that mean? The summer solstice is the longest day of the year and the true kick-off of summer. That seems like a pretty good reason to celebrate to me! We have shared many creative art projects for kids and this one is a favourite of mine.

We decided there was no better way to welcome summer and the sun than to create an art piece for our front door. We designed an ode to the sun using 3 different stamping techniques.

We decided to ditch the paintbrushes for this piece of summery art. Instead, we went to the garden. We had just cleared out the dead flower heads, to get ready for our summer garden. I had a pile of dead poppy flower heads.  The poppy flower head stamp creates a lovely little sun shape. Perfect for our summer solstice door hanging. It’s as simple as cutting your poppy when it is done blooming. Stamp the pod into an ink pad, or paint, and stamping it onto the paper. 

Handprint Sun Art

Here’s another super easy stamping technique. We love making handprint art. Start by brushing yellow or orange acrylic paint onto the palm of your hand. Stamp your hand onto the paper. Rotate the paper, or the hand, and repeat until you have the sun shape you like.

Potato Stamped Sun Art

Finally, we had fun creating a sun-shaped potato stamp. Draw a circular shape, sun shape, onto half of a potato. Carve around the circle shape and cut away the excess potato. Use a small slice of potato for the sun’s rays, but you could cut the entire sun shape out of the potato. Cut a handle into the backside of the potato, this makes it easier to pull the stamp off the paper.

Pour yellow or orange acrylic paint onto a plate, a flat surface. Dip the potato into the paint and then stamp onto the paper.

By using these three different stamping techniques you are able to create a multidimensional piece of art. We used a magnet to hang the artwork on our front door. We are totally thrilled with the end product.