Tag: handprint craft

Categories
Craft crafts Infant/Toddler Learning Kindergarten Age Toddler and Preschool Age Fun Toddler and Preschool Age Learning

Fall Crafts for Kids – Handprint Leaves

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You guys, fall is RIGHT around the corner. Can you believe it? That means it’s time to get started on our fall crafts for kids!

I love so many things about fall. Bonfires, the smell of October, crisp fall air, and the falling leaves in bright colors are just a few of my favorite things. My all-time favorite part, however, is making memories with my kids.

Fall is the perfect time for family traditions and fun. Doing crafts is something we do for each season or holiday, so of course, there will be fall-inspired crafts.

This handprint leaves craft is one I first did years ago. I loved it so much I started doing it every year. I love seeing how much the kids’ hands have grown each year, and I can update their scrapbooks with the handprint leaves.

How to Make Handprint Leaves With Kids

This is a super simple craft that you can do with kids of every age. The required materials are minimal, and there isn’t much mess involved.

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Required Materials:

Directions:

  1. Begin with a blank piece of white paper.
  2. Using a clean paintbrush, paint the child’s hand orange.
  3. Quickly and firmly place the child’s hand flat onto the white paper.
  4. Carefully lift their hand, being careful not to smear the handprint leaf.
  5. Repeat steps 2-4 for the red paint and yellow paint.
  6. Allow the paint to dry.
  7. Using a thin paintbrush and brown paint (or a brown marker) draw the stem lines onto the leaves.

What Do You Think?!

Tell me what you think of this easy fall craft! Which fall crafts do you plan to do with your kiddos?

Share pictures of your fall crafts for kids in the comments! Feel free to drop a link to your fall craft blog posts in the comments, too! I’d love to see them!

Check out other fall crafts and activities by clicking the following links:

Simple Fall Handprint Crafts for Kids

Easy Fall Sensory Bin With Dyed Rice

Foil Printed Fall Art For Kids

Fall Bucket List – Free Printable 

Other Important Fall Tasks

While we’re on the topic of kids and fall, I want to remind you to label all of your child’s coats, jackets, snow pants, and anything else they might lose. I’ve spent too much time and money looking for or replacing these items, so I label them each year. If you want a label that will last, I urge you to visit dutchlabelshop.com. They offer custom labels that you can sew onto your child’s clothing and outdoor gear. You can even choose a label with your child’s photo.

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Categories
Big Kid Craft crafts Free Activities Holiday Teenager Toddler and Preschool Age Fun

Valentine’s Crafts Based on the Book Hedgehugs

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When my son brought the book ‘Hedgehugs’ home from school last year, I was so excited. I’d never heard of it before and it quickly became a favorite. While deciding on some Valentine’s Crafts, this book immediately came to mind.

It’s a cute story about a couple of hedgehogs that want to hug but can’t find a comfortable way to do so. By the end of the story, the hedgehogs find a way to hug by wiggling into the end of a torn sock. The sock covers their sharp parts so that they can share their love.

With National Hugging Day on the 21st and Valentine’s Day less than a month away, I figured it was the perfect time to have some fun with this one. If you want to buy this book for your home library, you can get it on Amazon by clicking HERE or by clicking on the photo below.

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This post contains affiliate links. It costs you nothing extra, but I may receive a small commission.

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Valentine’s Crafts 1 – Paper Hug

This craft is SO easy and we had everything on hand to make it ahead of time. Even more exciting, our teenager participated in this one!

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Materials

Directions

  1. Cut a large heart onto pink paper.
  2. Using any of the three colors of paper, cut a long, skinny piece and fold it up like an accordion.
  3. Put white paint on one of the child’s hands and have them make a handprint on red paper.
  4. Do the same with the other hand so that you have 2 handprints for each child.
  5. Have the child cut around their handprint and glue one handprint to each arm.
  6. Glue the other end of the arm to the large heart.
  7. Using markers, draw a face on the heart.

Valentine’s Crafts 2 – Hedgehog Hugging a Heart Craft

Materials

Directions

  1. Draw or print a large oval onto white paper and have your kids paint it brown.
  2. Draw or print a medium-sized oval, a medium sized heart, two small ovals for feet, and two long, skinny ovals for arms. At the end of each long, skinny oval, make it flat instead of rounded. (I know, this isn’t an oval anymore).
  3. Mix brown and white paint to make a light brown or tan color. Then, paint the rest of the shapes with this color.
  4. Then, cut out a couple of hearts onto pink or red paper.
  5. Once all of that is done, assemble the hedgehog by beginning with the large brown oval. Using glue, add the medium-sized tan oval next, more toward the bottom of the large oval leaving about half an inch of space at the bottom.
  6. Then add the tan heart so that the top half of the heart is on the brown oval and the bottom half is on the tan oval.
  7. Next up are the feet, which should be put on the very bottom.
  8. Finally, add one of the red or pink hearts right into the center of the tan oval and put the arms so that the flat side of the arms are on the edge of the oval and the rounded parts are overlapping the red or pink heart.
  9. Add a second red or pink heart overtop of the first one and add the googly eyes to the tan heart.
  10. For the final steps, add a pom-pom to the point of the tan heart to make a nose and add claws to the feet using a black marker.

That’s it!! You’re done and you’ve created a cute hedgehog hugging a heart.

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Final Thoughts on Valentines Craft Based on the Book Hedgehugs

Valentine’s Day is such a fun holiday to celebrate with your kids. It’s a good time to teach kids fun ways to celebrate rather than spending money to celebrate.

Which craft are you going to do with your kids? Let me know in the comments!

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While you’re at it, parents, go ahead and treat yourself this Valentine’s Day with some pampering and self care.

Categories
crafts Decor Gifts Holiday Winter

Easy DIY Snowman Christmas Tree Ornament for Kids Are Great for Gifting

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There is nothing more special than a homemade Christmas tree ornament, especially when the ornaments are made by kids. A few years ago, my dad said that he wanted Christmas tree ornaments made by all of his grandkids, so these are the ones the kids made for him! The DIY snowman handprint ornament was a hit because not only did Papa love his handmade gifts, the kids also loved making them!

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How to Make a DIY Snowman Handprint Ornament

Materials:

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Directions:

For the jar lids, I used lids of spaghetti and Alfredo sauce jars and painted them red with acrylic paint. I had to do several coats of red paint to cover up the words on the lids completely because I didn’t want to see anything through the paint.

Once the lids were completely covered and dried, I used white paint on the kids’ hands to make the snowmen. I painted their fingers (3 fingers for Sylas and Peyton, 4 fingers for Josie and Liam) to create the snowmen. I also painted the top of their palm to make a snowy hill underneath the snowmen.

Peyton’s hands were too big for this (he was 10-years-old), so I had him do the top half of his fingers and use a paintbrush to create the snowy hill. Once the white paint dried completely, I added the scarves with green paint, hats, eyes, buttons, and mouths with a black sharpie and the noses with orange paint. Peyton did his own, but I did this part for the babies.

Once everything is dried and ready to go, you will spray one coat of clear spray paint over the front and back of the ornament. This ensures that the paint doesn’t flake off.

Finally, you will use a hot glue gun to glue the string or ribbon in a loop at the top of the ornament. Make sure you put the glue on the back so that it is hidden from sight.

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Final Thoughts On DIY Snowman Handprint Ornaments

I love the finished product SO MUCH that I wanted to keep them for myself. My dad loved them, and the kids really enjoyed making them and giving them as a gift.

I’d love to see the Christmas crafts you’ve done or are planning to do with your kiddos this season!! Please share them in the comments. 🙂

Categories
Craft crafts Free Activities Holiday Toddler and Preschool Age Fun

4 Simple Fall Handprint Crafts For Kids

**I originally wrote this Fall Handprint Crafts post for my old blog, which I do not post to anymore. I decided to move it over here when I realized it was still being shared.**

Years ago, I worked as an infant/toddler teacher. I taught one-year-old toddlers, which was so much fun. Between my classroom of Wonderful One’s and my own babies at home, I did lots of simple crafts that could be used as keepsakes for years to come.

Handprint crafts are always my favorite because, let’s face it, what parent doesn’t want to see their tiny toddler’s handprint when that tiny toddler grows to become a not-so-tiny child, teen, adult, etc.? I know that my little’s won’t be little for long, and I want every memory possible of how little they once were.

Without further ado, here are a few of my favorite simple handprint crafts for fall.

Simple Fall Handprint Crafts

1. Frankenstein handprint craft

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For this cute little Frankenstein, you’ll just paint 4 of the child’s fingers black (do not pain the thumb), and the rest of the hand (not the thumb) green. Then, place their hands flat on the paper. Once the paint is dry, use a sharpie or other black marker to draw the face and the lines.

2. Handprint pumpkin with fingerprint stem

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For this fall handprint craft, you will paint your little one’s hand orange and place it flat on a white piece of paper. Then, paint their pointer finger green and place that flat on the same sheet of white paper. While you wait for the paint to dry, cut an orange pumpkin shape and a green stem shape out of construction paper.

Once the paint is dry, you’ll cut around the handprint and around the fingerprint. Have your little one help you glue the handprint to the pumpkin shape and the fingerprint stem to the green paper, and then glue the stem to the pumpkin.

3. Handprint leaves

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I love, love, love this one!! You’ll paint the child’s hand 3 separate times, once for a yellow handprint, one for red, and once for orange. You’ll put all 3 handprints on the same page, wait for them to dry, and then draw “stems” through the handprint leaves.

Check out my post about this craft here —-> Fall Crafts for Kids – Handprint Leaves – Mom Wife Wine

4. Handprint spider

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This one was so much fun and the kids really loved it. You’ll paint your child’s hand black (excluding the thumb) and put it flat on the paper but sideways. Then, you’ll do the same with the other hand, overlapping the palms of the hand. Once the paint is dry, add a white smile and googly eyes. You can even add a spider web to the craft, too.

Side Notes on Fall HandPrint Crafts

*If you don’t know what kind of paint to use, here is the link to what I use!

*Always remember to write the child’s name and the date somewhere on the craft (this could be on the back).

***This post contains affiliate links. It costs you nothing extra, but I may receive a small commission.***

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Final Thoughts on Simple Fall Handprint Crafts

You could really turn any Halloween or fall-themed idea into a fall handprint craft of some kind. You just have to be creative and use your imagination (or Pinterest, of course).

What do you think? Which ones are your favorite? Leave a comment and let me know!

Do you love fall as much as I do?

Check out my free fall bucket list printable!

Categories
Big kid fun Craft Family Activities Holiday Toddler and Preschool Age Fun

6 Easy and Fun 4th of July Crafts and Activities for Kids

4th of July, July 4th, Independence Day, Family cook out, Memorial Day, Patriotic Craft

I like to make holidays memorable for my kids. One way I do it is by doing holiday-themed crafts and activities in the days leading up to the holiday. My kids love it, I get keepsakes, and it offers an opportunity to discuss what the holiday means. 4th of July activities and crafts make the holiday more fun and exciting. Plus, there are plenty of ideas to choose from.

The 4th of July is always busy for us. We have a cookout the day of the holiday and another party the weekend after. It’s hard to talk about the meaning of the holiday with so much going on. Luckily, our craft time gives us that needed time to connect. 

4th of July Activities and Crafts

This year we’ve done two crafts already, including:

4th of July Ripped Paper Wreath Kids Craft

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4th of July Activities and Crafts

These ripped paper wreaths were fun and easy. We used white paper, cut it into a circle (or close enough), and cut a round hole in the middle. Then, the kids ripped blue and red paper to glue on. I cut out stars to put on at the end. We hung the finished wreaths on the kids’ bedroom doors.

Handprint Firework Craft

Handprint Fireworks

This one is my favorite one we have made so far this year. It’s so cute, and I love handprint keepsakes. I painted their hands red before helping them put their hand flat on white paper. Then, using blue and red paint (separately so it doesn’t turn purple), they used their fingers to make the “fireworks” part. Super simple.

Other 4th of July Crafts and Activities

There are three other crafts I want to do with them before the 4th of July and one scavenger hunt.

Kids Blowers Patriotic Craft Idea

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These patriotic kids blowers from Natural Beach Living are so cute. The kids can use them during fireworks displays to add more festivity.

Footprint Rocket Pop

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I love this Footprint Rocket Pop craft from Tippytoe Crafts. It’s another keepsake for Mama and a craft the kids will love. It could be a general summertime craft, but with the red, white, and blue, it gives me patriotic vibes.

Painted Rocks

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We want to paint some rocks like these Painted Rocks for the 4th of July created by Thrifty Nifty Things. I don’t know if this is popular everywhere, but where I’m from, people paint rocks and hide them for others to find. When you find a rock, you’re supposed to post a picture on the dedicated Facebook site and say where you found it. Then, you re-hide it in a new location. I want to paint them this weekend and hide them in the couple of days before the 4th of July. My kids LOVE hiding and finding rocks around town, so it’s perfect for them.

4th of July Scavenger Hunt

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I fell in love with this 4th of July Scavenger Hunt Printable from Women With Intention on Pinterest. I’m bummed that the link didn’t work, and the website no longer exists, so I can’t download it directly from who created it. Later tonight I’ll make a scavenger hunt printable to use at home on the 4th of July and maybe a second one for the larger party the weekend after.

Recap: 4th of July Activities and Crafts

How do you teach your kids about holidays? Are you doing any fun crafts or activities with them for the 4th of July? Tell me about it in the comments!

Categories
Craft Marriage Toddler and Preschool Age Fun

40 Free or Cheap Date Night Ideas

Yesterday was my husband’s birthday. It was not exciting at all… he got his gift early (last) week, which was a circular saw and the rest of his gifts won’t be here until tomorrow because I’m a crappy wife and ordered them late. He went to work, after work he rushed home to grab Sylas and Josie and then rushed to Nevaeh’s choir concert, while Liam and I went to my nephew’s high school graduation.

After the choir concert, Chris rushed back to our side of town to pick Peyton up from the school when he got back from his Macinack field trip. By the time we all got home, it was 9 pm and we hadn’t done anything fun all day. Sylas asked about 10 times when we were going to the park for daddy’s birthday because we always have Sylas’ parties at the park. LOL.

I knew ahead of time that Chris’ birthday wouldn’t be very “special”, so the littles and I took some time to make him a couple of homemade gifts.

***This post contains affiliate links. It costs you nothing extra, but I may receive a small commission.***

I helped the kids make him some handprint crafts. Josie made a birthday cupcake using her hand, and then the flames on her “candles” are made from her fingerprints.

Sylas and Liam made little monsters. Sylas used his hand (minus the middle finger) to make his monster, and then I added the eye and mouth myself. Liam made a monster using his foot, and then I added the smile and eyes. I helped Liam make polka dots on his monster, too.

Sylas and Josie also did some free art time and they both chose to make pictures for daddy. They’re so sweet and I’m trying to help them understand that they should try and make daddy feel special on his birthday like he does for them on theirs.

 Josie’s artwork for daddy, it’s two different spaceships.

 One of Sylas’

 Sylas’ other one… this one is a tall tower, a dragon, and rain.

So then MY DIY project for Chris was a date night jar. We struggle with finding things to do when we are stuck at home and I always want to bond more than we do during a normal week.

We ALWAYS talk about having more date nights but with the kids, it’s really hard to find the time.

I decided to create a “Date Night” jar, full of things we can either do at home or (with a little planning ahead) find a babysitter for a couple of hours while we do something quick but fun.

I used a mason jar (I buy mine on Amazon) to hold the date night ideas. Then, I made a tag for a label, used a hole punch to make a hole in the tag, and slipped it onto twine before tying the twine around the neck of the bottle.

When we are wondering what we should do to have some fun, we just draw a date from the jar and go with the first one we pulled out. The ones that require a babysitter or a little planning ahead, I marked with a different color so that we know to avoid those ones when we know we are stuck at home.

No more sitting around wasting time on our phones or cleaning when we want to bond and spend time together… now we have plenty of ideas. 🙂

Are there any free/cheap date nights you would add to this list? Let me know in the comments. 🙂

Categories
Craft Holiday Toddler and Preschool Age Fun

Mother’s Day Crafts

Every year I ask my mom, “what do you want for Mother’s Day?” and every year she says, “oh nothing. Maybe just a hanging basket of flowers.” And every single year I get frustrated because that is what she gets from EVERYONE! Does she really need 7 hanging baskets with flowers? No, absolutely not. But… she loves them and she is stubborn so I follow suit and get her yet another hanging basket.

I am also stubborn, though, and I refuse for that to be the only thing we show up with on Mother’s Day. This year, I kept it simple. My babies love to create artwork and give it as gifts so that’s what we did!! The babies are happy that they got to paint, I’m happy that we will be taking something more than just a hanging basket, and my mom will be happy that she got homemade crafts from her grandbabies.

To get started, I just gave the babies some blank paper and paint and let them go to town creating whatever they wanted. Once their paint dried, I turned those random paintings into something more.

These are the crafts we made for my mom this year. Sylas painted the vase with the flowers. To make this, he did free paint for the vase and when it was dry, I sketched a vase shape onto the back of it, making sure to get the coolest pattern and the least amount of blank spots from his painting and cut it out.

Next, I cut a sponge into the shape of a flower and JoJo and Sylas took turns dipping the sponge into the paint before placing the sponge on the paper. When they were finished, I added the green stems and the yellow in the center of the flowers and glued the vase on. I LOVE the way it turned out.

 

The Mother’s Day Handprint Flowers were even easier. I simply used paint for the babies handprints (Liam was not participating very well so his doesn’t look much like a handprint) and yellow hearts for the center of the flower, and Sylas helped me add the green stems and leaves.

The Mother’s Day Heart Card was Josie’s free paint craft. Once hers was done, I cut it into a heart and glued it to a piece of construction paper. On the inside, all of the babies “signed” their name.

Who says you have to go all out to make a mama (or a grandma) happy on Mother’s Day?!

Categories
Craft Toddler and Preschool Age Fun

Handprint Frog

I’m a sucker for handprint artwork. I love looking back on the tiny little handprints made into some cute design. My kids have been interested in frogs lately, so we made handprint frogs!

They painted their own hand green. I let them do this part themselves because let’s face it, kids love to paint themselves so why not let them when there is a fair chance?

I helped them press their hand onto the paper so that we could get the whole hand print the first time. Sylas insisted that he do that part himself, too, so I mostly let him. I just pushed the tips of his fingers down to make sure we got the whole thing.

Once we got the handprints, I let the kids free paint while I added the little details that they are still too little to do themselves.

I added green circles with paint for where the eyes are, a green oval for where the mouth area is, and a smiley face. Then I cut out circles with white paper for the eyes. The circles for each frog were different sizes since the frogs were all different sizes. I wanted to make sure the eyes weren’t way too big or way too small for them. Then I used a sharpie to make the black part of the eye. You could also use googly eyes but I don’t have any on hand (surprising, but it happens) so I used paper.

Once the paint dried, Sylas and Josie (with my help) cut the tongue, curled it, glued it on with a glue stick, and added the eyes. We curled them by wrapping them around a pencil. I curled the tongue for Liam’s frog.

Aren’t they the cutest? I made the oval on Liam’s a little too wide so I might have to re-do his later, but I still love it!

Have your littles made any cute crafts lately? Tell me about them in the comments and leave a link if you’ve blogged about it! I’d love to see them.