Printing Workshop is a fun activity for Hong Kong children on rainy days

The aftermath of the art mania that took over Hong Kong in March seemed like a good time to try something besides the usual paintbrush play with my children. Chameleon Workshop's printmaking pack hit the sweet spot, promising to give the little ones a taste of some of the techniques used by such art greats as Picasso, Matisse and Warhol.

The packs arrived in a colourful package that had my preschoolers raring to go. Each contains all the material you'd need, including non-toxic and water-soluble black printing ink and a well-designed instruction booklet.

I first tried relief printing with my three-year-old daughter, who was less interested in drawing her own design on the Styrofoam - I ended up doing it for her, while holding her hand - than having a go at the roller. Spreading the ink on the acrylic sheet and rolling it smoothly was her favourite part. The roller is then rolled onto one's design, before a blank cardboard is placed on the Styrofoam to create a print. We decided our minimalistic bamboo print could be posted to Grandma as a birthday card.

The styrofoam can be washed and reused, though my daughter seemed bent on creating a new masterpiece each time. Cutting the Styrofoam into smaller pieces worked well for her as she didn't seem to want to fill the entire A4 size sheet, anyway.

My four-year-old son joined us for the next technique, trace monotype printing, favoured by Degas, Gauguin and Klee. After the acrylic sheet is inked, paper is placed on the surface, and a drawing is done on top. Although this technique is described as tricky, I found they took to it well. Younger ones tend to press down hard with the pencil, which works for this technique. The resulting work shows dark, well-defined lines, which my little artists liked.