Nature's Art Box (a book worth checking out) was the inspiration for this project...hard to pass up a project that 1) doesn't need any special supplies, 2)allows my six year old to hammer to his heart's desire, and 3) produces such pretty results.
Supply List: Cotton fabric, tape, a cutting board, hammer, newspaper (we used an old phone book), paper towel,a warm iron, and leaves/flowers/herbs.
Here are the steps:
Set up work space (we did this project outside) by placing a cutting board on top of phone book or stack of newspaper. Place paper towel on top of cutting board. Gather leaves and flowers (we found that azaleas, ferns, and various herbs worked well). According to the book, different plants' pigment will be longer lasting....we'll have to see what happens with our prints. Tape down plant on to cut piece of fabric. 
Place fabric plant-side face down onto cutting board. Hammer the fabric. You will start to see pigment coming through the fabric. 
When hammering is complete, gently press with a warm iron (plant side down). Turn over and carefully remove tape and plant bits from the fabric. Then enjoy the results....a great way to celebrate early spring.
This is brilliant! My 5 year old would love this. Pounding is just her thing.
Thanks for the great comments you left on my blog. We visited our friends in S. Italy and it was sooooooo wonderful!! Very different, not so westernized as Rome and north. And just beautiful. Email me if you'd like to talk more about Italy. I'm happy to put you in touch with our friends too. They are returning to Seattle in July - done with their 3 years. You and your family are in for an adventure - a wonderful one!
Really pretty result from all the fun pounding :)
I love your prints and my sons would love the pounding :-)
Great activity - we shall be giving this a go.
we have a 5 yo friend coming tomorrow for the day- read your post and thought 'oh! we could do that!' then i remembered we are still in winter here- nothing growing!!
looks fun!
These are beautiful! Can't wait for some green to try it!
I did this with my craft group last fall and we made tea-towels and tote bags with the fern prints.
Such fun!
Love it. We'll have to give this a try once we have something colorful to smash. :)
Just found you from the Creative Family flickr group--what a cool idea!!! I can't wait to try this with my kids, but we'll have to wait several months, since anything remotely green is hidden under about 3 feet of snow right now!
Love this. . . thanks for sharing.
Very cool. My two little ones would love these. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for your wonderful ideas in crafting with children.
BTW, I LOVE your blog!
Kindest regards
Michaela, adoptive mom (Cathwel) from Germany
OH, I definitely want to try this! Your results turned out so pretty. And I'm sure my son will love doing it.
Thanks!
Jackie
I love this idea....it's one I must try with my friend's children. I have been browsing your blog (came over from Foothill Home Companion by way of Chik Austin! I think you will love Italy - it is one of my favourite countries ever!
We just did this project, thanks to your inspiration. I blogged about it here: http://loveinthesuburbs.com/wordpress/flower-prints-for-mothers-day
You can see all the mistakes I made in the process, but we're pretty pleased with the result.
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