Here’s how to make 26 animal handprints – one for each letter of the alphabet! This is such a fun way to make art.
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We make handprints during most painting sessions. Not only is it a great way of clearing off excess paint, but I love making the prints into other things! I have tried to show a wide range of styles of animal handprints: using googly eyes, craft foam, feathers, silver thread, tissue paper, glitter glue and more.
A is for Alligator. This was made with green painted hands formed into the “Spock Hands” position. 😉 This can be hard for little ones to do, but it is fine to just position their painty fingers before hitting the paper. The gap in the fingers becomes the mouth.
B is for Butterfly. We made this handprint while making Footprint Butterflies, using a mirror image print technique.
C is for Caterpillar. We made this as part of our focus on caterpillars. It was made with lots of green handprints, and then adding a head later.
D is for Duckling. We made this as part of our “yellow duck” week for our series on learning colours.
E is for Elephant. This was a card for my husband that I made when my son was 1. I took a grey handprint, mounted it onto card and added features (and craft foam grass!).
F is for Flamingo. We made these at a crafty playdate and it’s one of my favourites! The kids made the pink print with fingers together, then I added neck and head. After the paint had dried the kids glued on pink feathers, then drew on legs, eyes and beak.
G is for Giraffe. This giraffe was made with a yellow-orange handprint, then neck and head added. After the paint had dried I added brown spots, mane, and eyes.
H is for Hedgehog. This was made with lots of brown painty hands, a glued on eye and a black nose.
I is for Ibis. A Scarlet Ibis! This is a mixture or red and orange paint, then a print was made with fingers together. I added legs, head and beak.
J is for Jellyfish. This unusual combination of pink and orange paint was used when we made personalised wall art, and F made some handprints at the time. What colour is a jellyfish, anyway? 🙂
K is for Koala. This cute koala was made with a grey handprint with closed fingers. Then I added head and other details. The leaves were made by making prints with a mesh bath sponge.
L is for Lion. This lion was made during our focus on lions back in March.
M is for Monkey. This was made with a brown handprint, then tail and head added. I then painted white over the top of the brown for face and tummy, and added in details and vine.
N is for Newt. A tricky one this! I got F to make a handprint with fingers together, then I turned the thumb into a back leg and added another on the other side. I painted on a tail and made the first and little fingers into the front legs. Then I joined the middle fingers together to make a neck and head. Then I wondered if newts are actually green. Oh well, this one is!
O is for Owl. This handprint was made with closed fingers and brown paint. But I think I have added so much detail that it is hard to see the handprint any more!
P is for Peacock. We used green and blue paint when creating some artwork one day, and F made these lovely handprints. Perfect for a beautiful peacock.
Q is for Queen Bee. F made a yellow handprint and I glued on wings made from white tissue paper. Then I drew on some black stripes and glued on a crown!
R is for Rabbit. I spread brown paint onto F’s palm and two fingers especially to make this print. Then I added pink and white features, and glued on a few strands of silver thread.
S is for Spider. F got very messy when we first tried out black paint. So we got lots of handprints! This spider is made from two handprints glued together.
T is for Tiger. During our “orange week” F made a lot of orange handprints. I turned one of them into a tiger!
U is for Unicorn. This had a white handprint base, and then a layer of Mod Podge Glitter over the top. Then I added details with a silver pen and glued on a googly eye.
V is for Vulture. This started with a black handprint then I added the vulture’s details with coloured craft foam.
W is for Whale. I mixed up some grey/blue paint and got F to make a handprint with closed fingers. Then I added a tail and made the thumb into a water spout.
X is for X-ray Fish. Yes, this feels like a bit of a cop-out animal for “X”, but what else is there? This is a black handprint with chalk “bones” drawn on. Not absolutely convinced by this one but couldn’t work out how to improve it!
Y is for Yak. This was a similar process to making the hedgehog – lots of brown hands together. Then I added head, horns and other features.
Z is for Zebra. What else? 😉 This was a simple white handprint with a head added on. When the paint was dry I added stripes and other details.
[bctt tweet=”An animal handprint for every letter of the alphabet! So adorable!”]
To finish off the project I glued all the handprints into a paper book. They looked so cute all together! I hope you enjoyed our ABC of Animal Handprints!
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