This method couples the age-old art of block printing with modern supplies (craft foam and fabric paint), letting your child create snappy designs that she can reprint whenever she likes.

MATERIALS

Plastic bag
Cardboard cut to fit between the front and back of the shirt
Prewashed cotton T-shirt
Pencil
Thin craft foam (such as Foamies)
Scissors
Tacky glue
Wooden blocks (sold at many craft stores) or squares of corrugated cardboard layered and glued together
Plastic plates or soft paintbrush
Fabric pens
Fabric paint

Wrap the plastic bag around the cardboard and slip it inside the shirt. Have your child sketch shapes or letters onto the foam sheets. To create a row of people like the one shown here, draw a head, pants, a skirt and a shirt. Cut out two of each shape, then layer and glue each pair onto a wooden block or cardboard square (glue letters on backward). The double layer lets you apply paint to the foam without getting any on the block.

When the glue is dry, you can begin printing. Pour some fabric paint onto a plastic plate and dip the foam stamp into it (or brush paint directly onto the foam). Then press the stamp onto the shirt. Once your child has printed as many shapes and colors as she likes, and the paint has dried, she can use fabric pens to embellish them with facial features, hair, shoes, and other details.

Finally, heat-set the design and launder the shirt according to the paint and marker manufacturers' directions.

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