Stampin' with Kids

A lot of my friends and customers are truly shocked when I tell them that I not only let my 5-year-old stamp with my supplies, but I let my 2-year-old stamp with them too! In fact, he's been stamping since he's been 8 or 9 months old - he saw his big sister doing it and wanted to join in. I figured, why not? The ink is non toxic, washes off (eventually - depending on color) and is great for mastering those fine motor skills :)

Do I let them use MY stamp sets? The ones my customers use? Heck ya! Why not? Half the time my customers get them dirtier than my kids do. And really, who cares? If they're being enjoyed, that's all I care about! Dirty blocks don't stop the stamps from working ;) As for inks, as you can see below, Charlie has his 'own' inks so he can mix and match colors as he pleases. And they ARE SU! inks... a number of years ago there used to be a 'Stampin' Kids' line and I bought them before they were discontinued. My 5-year-old has graduated to be allowed to use two SU! ink pads at a time ;)  But when she wants to muck around, she uses the Stampin' Kids inks too.

Tips & Tricks: 

*Don't worry too much about mess - in the grand scheme of things, stamping is one of the less messy crafts you could be doing with your kids.
*If you really don't want to share your stamps, get your child his/her own stamp set and an ink pad or two - you won't regret it!
*My daughter makes all her own birthday cards for her friends. Think about how much time and money this will save you in the long run ;) So what if sometimes the cards say 'Get Well Soon'... 
*Now that my daughter has been stamping for a while, I LOVE the fact that she's getting into techniques like 'Rock and Roll' and 'Two-Step Stampin''.  I love having this creativity to share with her.
*I get more stamping done since both my kids stamp too. I just set them up at their own station when I want to get something done and it keeps them occupied for half an hour to an hour. Even my 2-year-old!

So get out there, give your kids some stamps, some ink and let stamps bring out their creativity!