As students delve into the significant contributions of individuals throughout history, science, languages, mathematics, art, athletics, etc., they might enjoy creating a commemorative digital stamp collection of their heroes to be shared and traded.
Below, you’ll find templates in Keynote and Pages designed to assist learners in creating stamps and stamp books, respectively, along with suggestions to guide them along. There are numerous ways to accomplish this activity, and I’ve briefly outlined the process I used below for professional development.
Steps:
Plan with Freeform - Create a shared Freeform board where students brainstorm a list of criteria for selecting commemorative stamps. The United States Postal Service provides their criteria here however students can select their own criteria based on their curriculum and the topic under study (as I did for this digital example).
Once criteria is determined…
Research using Safari - Students select individuals to place on a digital commemorative stamp. If the subject is history, look for primary sources. Students should check for free-to-use sources. They might also consider drawing a portrait or taking a photo if they have chosen a community member. My selected sources are from the Library of Congress.
Collect with Notes - While researching, use the share arrow in Safari to add resources or ideas to Notes. Students can also work together by sharing a Note. The Web clippings created in Notes are very helpful for visual organization.
Build with Keynote - Open Keynote and start a presentation. Tap on the down arrow at the end of the presentation name, then select Presentation Options/Presentation Setup/Slide Size/3:4
Stamp creation - Tap on Shapes in the top menu and search for “stamp”. Add the shape to the slide. Pull the selected edges of the stamp shape to fill the slide, use Brush tool/Style to format the color.
Image edit & import - Add chosen image to Photos and use a hard press to select Copy Subject. Paste results onto the Keynote Stamp. If needed use the Media menu at the top to select Drawing to touch up parts of the image. Tap your photo and use Brush to select Image/Edit Mask to adjust the image size. Use Shapes/Text to add persons name.
Export finished stamp(s) to photos - Tap the down arrow at the end of the Keynote presentation title, select Export/Images then select the slide(s) to be exported and Export/Save Images.
Combine with Pages Stamp Book - Create a class or individual Stamp Book to add student stamps throughout the school year. Open Pages and select a Blank Book Landscape (or Portrait) Template. In the drop down arrow at the end of the title select Document Options/Document set up/ and make sure the Document Body is toggled to off so the document is in Page Layout mode. On the first page create a cover for the Stamp Book. On subsequent pages use the add Photo or Video in the Media menu to add the stamps that have been exported from Keynote to Photos.
Tap the drop down arrow at the end of the title then Export/EPUB or PDF to export the finished Pages document as pdf or a EPUB that can be read via the Books app.
Reflect & Share - At the end of the year (or unit) reflect and share as a class the Stamp collection book. Have each student explain their choice for the commemorative Stamp Book.
June 01, 2025
This is fantastic, Cheryl. Thank you for sharing the step by step approach - there are lots of layers and skills to this task, and all accessible within the core apps. I like the nod to the stamps as I think they are a concept some students may not be familiar with!
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