Roylco Rubbing Plates: What's the Difference?
Rubbing plates are a simple, hands-on art tool that turns texture and pattern into creative designs. But not all rubbing plates are made the same! Different formats and textures can create different effects, making it helpful to understand what to expect before starting your next rubbing activity.
At Roylco, we offer a variety of rubbing plates designed to help children explore texture, pattern, nature, shapes, and creative expression. While all of our rubbing plates can be used for rubbing activities, the construction and texture of each design can influence the final result.
Traditional Raised Rubbing Plates
Our traditional rubbing plates are made from durable plastic with deeply raised designs, one side and deep groves on the other side. Creating bold textures and patterns that are easy to explore. Some of our most popular designs include:
To create a rubbing, simply place a piece of paper over the plate and rub a crayon across the surface. As you move over the raised design, the texture appears on the paper, creating a bold and detailed impression.
These rubbing plates are ideal for repeated classroom use and activities where children can explore texture, pattern, and creative expression. Their durable construction also makes them useful beyond traditional crayon rubbings. Try them with clay, air dry modeling clay, play dough, paint, glue, and other creative materials for even more hands-on possibilities!
Great for:
- Exploring bold textures and patterns
- Repeated classroom activities
- Nature, animal, dinosaur, and seasonal designs
- Crayon, paint, play dough, and glue activities
- Open-ended, multi-use creative projects
- Stamping
- Window Clings
Get Inspiration!
Printed Rubbing Plates
Our printed rubbing plates feature a detailed printed image that is raised ridges rather than a deeply molded plastic texture. This design offers a different rubbing experience, creating a more subtle and delicate effect when used with paper and art tools.
This format works especially well for detailed designs where the image itself is an important part of the activity. Our current products featuring this type of texture include:
Great for:
- Detailed botanical and vehicle rubbings
- Floral artwork
- Exploring subtle texture and pattern
- Science and nature projects
- Creative art activities
- Adding texture to detailed designs
Explore our favorites:
Choosing the Right Rubbing Plate
The rubbing plate you choose depends on the type of project you're creating. For a bold, highly textured rubbing, our molded plastic designs are a great choice. For detailed designs and a more subtle rubbing effect, explore our rubbing plates featuring printed images with raised ridges.
No matter which design you choose, rubbing plates give children an opportunity to experiment with texture, color, pattern, and artistic expression.
From nature studies and science activities to seasonal crafts and open-ended art projects, rubbing plates make it easy to turn simple materials into hands-on learning experiences. Explore the possibilities and see where a little texture can take your creativity!
FAQ's
Rubbing plates are textured surfaces that allow children to transfer raised designs onto paper using crayons, colored pencils, or other art materials. They are a simple way to explore texture, pattern, shape, and creative expression through hands-on art.
