In our Sunday-morning printmaking session, attended by about 15 kids, children warmed up by coloring away on a large piece of raised plywood placed on the floor. After that, children and adults grabbed some smocks and engaged in their first collaborative activity: making a giraffe.

Children of all ages collaborated to make a print using sticks, tubes, foam, and more. Photo courtesy of Little Pulp.

Kiernan explained printmaking is a team effort. Using sticks, tubes, foam, and more, the kids painted a large giraffe on a long sheet of paper. All paints were soy-based, nontoxic on little hands, and washed off easily. There was a bathroom on site for washing.

“Printmaking as an art form requires patience, planning, effort, energy and collaboration," Kiernan explained to his young artists. "The end result is somewhat of a mystery until you create your print. Once you create your print, you can always continue working on it.”

All workshops operate in the same way: Each group works together on a large-scale, mixed-media piece (paint, printing, collage, markers, pencils, textures, glue, etc.). Then participants experiment with their own printmaking project. It's perfectly OK for a parent to help a child or jump in to make a print, too.

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Kids use a hand roller to paint their plate and get it ready for the printing press. Many shades of paint are available.

For the printmaking portion of our class, Kiernan demonstrated ways kids could create a personalized design on their "plate"—a foam sheet that would be inked with paint using a hand roller. Once the plate was painted, kids operated a special printing press. This marble-filled rolling pin moved across a platform and seemed easier and lighter to use than a traditional printing press, transferring their plate/print to paper. The "big rolling pin" was popular with kids because of the rattling noise it made as it rolled.

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Kids enjoy using the printing press (a huge rolling pin) to transfer their plate (painted sketch) to paper.

Kiernan demonstrated other ways kids could enhance their prints with layers of color and more. In our class, younger kids preferred using a wooden spatula to transfer their plate on to paper—experimentation and creativity were encouraged.

Kids were welcome to hang their prints on a clothesline to dry. Parents could take home the prints wet, but Kiernan stressed the artwork could smear, so picking them up a few days later was best.

Other on-site activities included a giant sketchbook, a corrugated box cityscape to paint and decorate, a chalkboard wall, and more. In between printmaking, my daughter enjoyed watching Kiernan show two older kids how to paint on a tall canvas using a long wooden stick rather than a paintbrush. Kiernan said he plans to donate the large collaborative artworks completed in every workshop to local hospitals.

Kids who completed their prints were invited by Kiernan to help paint a large board in another collaborative activity. 

Young artists are welcome to attend a workshop. Younger ones must be accompanied by an adult and register in advance online. Consider contacting Kiernan directly through his website to learn which sessions have mostly younger kids (4 to tween) and which mostly have teens. Kiernan said he has noticed older kids enjoy helping the younger ones; keep that in mind if you notice some tweens in your child's workshop.

LittlePulp’s Pop-Up Printmaking Workshop Shop for Kids runs through March and most likely April, though details are still being worked out. Online registration and fees include materials and smock. There are about 15 to 17 kids per workshop. Toddler Studio workshops, which focus on sensory activities for preschoolers, are also available.

Each printmaking workshop is $35 for 2.5 hours, which includes supplies and smock. Current price for Toddler Studio is $30, also for 2½ hours.

Hungry after all that hard work? Grab some grub in the mall (The Shops at Atlas Park) at the family-friendly California Pizza Kitchen, Shiro of Japan, Johnny Rocket’s, or Chili’s.

There is no subway close to this mall, but the Q29 bus stops across the street. If you drive, be prepared to pay a parking fee for the indoor or outdoor garages; fees vary by date and duration from $3 to $25. The LittlePulp workshop space is behind Gymboree, near the elevators.

Top photo: Once the prints are completed, they’re hung up to dry along a clothesline. Photo courtesy of Little Pulp. Unless otherwise noted, all photos by the author.