Homemade stamps can be made with inexpensive materials and offer hours of creative fun!

To make your own stamps, you will need:                                      
 
Bottle caps, foam stickers, markers or stamp pads, and paper

Alternate method: Foam, scissors, and white glue 
What to do.....
Using foam stickers:

Pull the backing off of the foam sticker, center it on the bottle cap, and press it down so it stays in place. 
Stamps made this way can be used right away. 
Any size foam sticker can be used if you have a cap that fits it. 

Alternate method: Using foam, scissors, and white glue:

If you do not have foam stickers, shapes can be cut from foam and glued to a bottle cap. Once the glue has dried, the stamp is ready to go!

Note: When using words and letters, glue them on backward so that they stamp correctly.
Tip: Foam stickers can be purchased in a dollar or craft store, as can sheets of foam. 

Any kind of cap or lid can be used:
Water bottle caps, juice bottle caps, milk caps, caps from jars and plastic lids

How to use:
Once the stamps are ready to use, ink the foam with a marker, then press the stamp onto paper. If you huff on the stamp, you will reactivate the ink and stamp with it again, although the stamp mark will be lighter.

Clean stamps with a damp sponge or paper towel and a little soap.
Stamps can be used on fabric if fabric paint or fabric markers are used.

Suggestions for use:

Make cards: Greeting, thank you, birthday, holiday: Valentine's Day, Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Halloween, Christmas and any other special day!

Stamp stories: Make custom stamps that fit the theme of the story or poem that you want to create.

Play games: Tic-tac-toe, guess my word, *code breaker and anything else you can think of!
*Set-up for Code-Breaker:
Make six different stamps by using small water bottle/soda tops and foam sticker.

How to play:
You will need: Paper cut into 4" x 11" wide strips, makers, stamps, damp paper towel or sponge

Play:
1. Decide if you are going to use one type of stamp and four colors or four different stamps and one color before you begin. 
2. On a piece of paper cut into 4" x 11" strips, have one player stamp their code any they want with the stamps and colors and fold it over so that the other player can not see it.
3. The other player will then try to guess what the code is by inking the stamps and putting them in the correct sequence. If any of the stamps are correct, the code maker wi
ll let the player know one of two ways: 1) Underline the correct stamp or 2) Put dots on the side of the line to indicate that there are stamps/colors in the correct place but you are not saying exactly what or where they are. 
4. Once the correct code has been found, switch roles so that the other player can create a code while the other guesses.
When the players get good at the game, opponents can challenge each other to guess the code in any color/stamp combination desired and agreed upon! Change the rules to fit your needs.

Tip: Use a little soap and a damp towel or sponge to clean stamps between colors.

Enjoy being creative!