When the kampung primary school comes by for a visit, ecoprint is always the highlight. The whole thing takes one hour and produces a small cotton handkerchief that the child takes home and won't stop talking about for weeks.
What we set up
- A tray of fresh leaves picked from the kebun: jambu, jati, eucalyptus, kenikir.
- Squares of cotton (pre-mordanted in the morning).
- One small hammer per child.
- A flat stone or wooden block as the surface.
How a session goes
"It looks like the leaf left a ghost on my fabric."
That sentence comes up in nearly every session. The child arranges leaves on the cotton, folds it in half, and then taps the whole thing with the hammer until the pigment transfers. We unfold, gasp together, and pin it on the line to dry.
The rule we keep
Every kid leaves with their own piece. Even the ones that don't quite turn out the way they expected — those are usually the most beloved.