Hand Print Santa Claus

Here is a project Mia and I did last year, when she was 2 1/2. I don't remember where I found the idea originally but here is one example I found online. Another cute idea is found here.

Materials Needed: 

• green construction paper (or any color)
• pink construction paper
• white paint
• paint brush
• red pom pom
• 2 googly eyes
• red craft foam (or paper or felt)
• red crayon (marker or colored pencil)
• cotton ball (or white pom poms)
• scissors
• glue

Directions:

1. Cover child's palm with white paint. Foam brushes work well for this. We used washable paint, and it looks somewhat transparent. Acrylic paint may look better.
2. On green construction paper (or any color) press child's hand down to make a hand print. We used 1/2 sheet of paper since Mia's hand was small. Allow paint to dry.
3. Cut a circle out of pink construction paper. Ours was about 2 inches in diameter. Then, cut away about 1/3 of the circle, curving it slightly. Glue onto the paper above the white hand print to make Santa's face. (You could use another color of paper if you don't want a pink Santa.)
4. Glue on 2 googly eyes.
5. Glue on a red pom pom to make the nose.
6. Using a red crayon, colored pencil, or marker, draw a small mouth in the white beard, leaving a small section of white above it to be the mustache part of Santa's beard.
7. Cut a hat from red craft foam, felt, or paper and glue on top of Santa's head. Ours is curved, but you could make a simple triangle if you prefer.
8. Take a cotton ball and gently pull it apart, making a small ball to glue at the tip of Santa's hat and some fluffy trim to glue down on the brim of the hat. You could also use white pom poms.
9. Allow all glue to dry and then display your hand print Santa or give it as a gift. Grandparents love kid-created stuff!