Johann Gutenberg and the Printing Press

This past week I prepared and taught a class on Johann Gutenberg for the co-op my children enjoy once a week with eight other families. Children were eager to learn, eager to find out more about the German printer who printed the first Bible on the movable type printing press.

 Johann Gutenberg was born into a wealthy family fortunate enough to have books. Gutenberg, fueled by his passion for the written word was determined to find a way to create books faster than handwriting every word, the norm of his day.















We arrived at co-op early so I could set up my teaching area. Breeze blowing, sun shining brightly, I decided to teach outside. I spent 15 minutes talking about Gutenberg, his biography and his accomplishments. We talked about the printing process and I explained how we would make relief, Styrofoam, and monoprints.

We all enjoyed learning together while enjoying the beautiful day. 

Once home looked on the shelves of our home library for some living books so we could dig deeper in our learning. Indeed, I found a few:

• Marguerite Makes a Book, Bruce Robertson
• The Printers, Leonard Everett Fisher (Colonial American Craftsmen series)
• The Papermakers, Leonard Everett Fisher (Colonial American Craftsmen series)

If you find your children interested in bringing a part of history alive through printing, here are some resources you might find helpful: 

• Lessons plans for fruits and veggies prints, styrofoam prints, lithography, monoprints, linoleum block printing, and more - http://www.kinderart.com/printmaking/
• Styrofoam tray prints - http://tinkerlab.com/abstract-recycled-prints/
• Nature prints - http://www.cornellplantations.org/sites/default/files/nature_printing.pdf