Remake Learning Days: Printmaking and Pattern Math
Saturday, May 16th. 12-2 pm
Celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2026, Remake Learning Days (RLD) is an innovative learning festival for youth and families! Taking root in regions across the world, thousands of hands-on learning events are designed for kids of all ages at libraries, schools, tech centers, parks, museums, play spaces, community centers, and more. Help your kids discover their spark for learning!
Full Event Description:
Join us for a hands-on printmaking workshop where art and math come together! Families will create their own printing stamps and use them to explore the fascinating world of repeating patterns, symmetry, and tessellations—all inspired by Philadelphia's beautiful historic architecture.
Philadelphia is filled with stunning patterns, from the intricate tilework in City Hall to colorful subway mosaics and decorative building facades throughout the city. In this workshop, we'll look at how simple shapes repeat, rotate, and reflect to create complex designs, then you'll get to make your own!
What You'll Do:
Participants will work at different stations to create printing stamps from foam sheets, carved erasers, and found objects like bottle caps and textured materials. Once you've designed your stamps, you'll experiment with different ways to repeat them on paper: sliding them in rows (translation), flipping them over (reflection), or spinning them around a point (rotation). As you work, you'll discover which shapes can fit together perfectly with no gaps—these special patterns are called tessellations!
Each station will have a different focus, so families can explore various pattern-making techniques. Try the Reflection Station to create mirror-image designs, visit the Rotation Station to spin your stamps into kaleidoscope-like patterns, or take on the Tessellation Challenge to see if you can make your shapes fit together like puzzle pieces.
What You'll Learn:
While creating beautiful printed artwork, you'll also learn mathematical concepts, including symmetry, geometric transformations, and tessellation. We'll discuss why some shapes (like triangles, squares, and hexagons) tessellate while others (like pentagons and circles) don't. Older students might enjoy exploring more complex pattern rules, while younger children can simply enjoy the process of stamping and discovering what happens when colors and shapes repeat.
What You'll Take Home:
Everyone leaves with their handmade stamps and printed pattern samples to keep. We'll also provide a simple guide showing the math vocabulary you explored and suggesting places around Philadelphia where you can spot these same pattern principles in real architecture and design.
Who Should Attend:
This workshop is designed for families with children ages 5 and up. Younger children may need adult assistance with stamp carving, but the printing process is accessible for all ages. Adults are encouraged to participate alongside their kids—many find printmaking just as engaging as the children do!
No prior art or math experience necessary. All materials will be provided, and the workshop will be led by experienced Arts League instructors who will guide you through each step.
Whether you're an art lover, a math enthusiast, or simply looking for a creative way to spend time together as a family, this workshop offers a unique opportunity to see how art and STEM education intersect in unexpected and beautiful ways. Discover the patterns hiding in plain sight throughout our historic city and create your own geometric masterpieces to take home!
Register Below!
