Hand-Print Fishy

I really like craft projects that use outlines of children's hands; It really captures the moment. Plus, you can trace your hand on some coloured paper, cut it out, and make just about anything! I was going to do just that to make a fish with them one morning, when I wondered what we could do to change things up a little bit.

Then it hit me. Instead of construction paper cut outs, why not use paint to create their hand prints? The difference was such fun, and I loved how the little lines and swirls of their skin were captured too, and not only the size of their hands.

First we painted our hands using regular children's craft paints. NOT finger paints.

We made four hand prints per child, and set them aside.

After we'd washed up, we cut out a large oval from construction paper to be the body of our fish. We added a googly eye, cut out a space for his mouth, and then let the kids decorate however they wanted. Mine chose to just use their markers, but you could fancy up the fish with sequins, glitter, or stickers too.

By the time we had finished decorating the fish's body, our paint was dry. Then we cut them out. (I did the cutting for my 4 year old. He is good with scissors, but since hand prints don't have a definite edge, and have gaps where you don't want to be cutting, I did it to avoid tears.)

Then we glued our hands onto our fishy! One for the top fin, one for the bottom fin, one for the side, and one for the tail.

Like I said, it was a fun way to change things up, and the kids enjoyed the variety.