How to do Handprint art

I am still working on my new door decoration which we started earlier this week. It won't be done for over a week since I have a student on vacation and I need her handprints. So since today's project was meerly handprints that don't make sense I figured I would just give you a few tips about how to do hand prints.

What you'll need:

• Paint
• Paper plates
• Sponge brushes
• Construction paper

Tips:

1. Use a sponge brush, a bristle one may be uncomfortable for sensitive little hands... or it may tickle so much they can't sit still.
2. Be sure to paint the hand NOT let them put their hand in a big blob of paint. You will have too much paint on the page and it will take much longer to dry and look much sloppier. Especially if you want to do more than one color on a single print.
3. Some children if they are small enough may not comprehend holding their hand open so don't be afraid to get a little paint on your fingers to open it.
4. Some kids also do NOT respond well to having their hands or feet painted. The stimulation is just not enjoyable for them. I would suggesting just doing it as quickly as possible I don't think you are hurting them but if they really flip out maybe don't do it.
5. To engage them make it into a little game while painting, sing a song, make a funny noise. I chose the classic "tiiiiickle tickle tickle".
6. Have some back up paper handy if you don't have a lot of space and need the whole page done right. Sometimes the kids move quickly and just slam their hands on the page or move them around. Which leads me to tip number 6.
7. Press on top of their hands while doing the print and count to about 5. This will ensure that the paint will show up nicely and not faded. Also the biggest thing is smudging, if you let a kid just slap their hands down on their own, they WILL move around because they will think it is fingerpaint time.

Hope these helped! Here's how my prints came out today.

They are two toned for the project I am working on. When it is finished I will post a picture, click here to see part one of this project.