Foot Print Penguins

{Foot Print Penguin by Mia, Age 5}

Know any kids with "happy feet?" If so, this project is perfect. You can do this with toddlers on up, provided that you are willing to do all of the work for young children. It's cute and not at all complicated, so what more could you ask for? I found this craft idea on Pinterest, and made a couple of small changes (black ink instead of paint and orange puffy paint for the beaks).

Materials:

• paper
• black ink
• black paint
• white paint
• paint brushes
• Styrofoam tray (or plate/bowl to hold paint)
• orange puffy paint
• 2 googly eyes
• glue
• newspaper (to protect work surface)
• damp cloth/paper towel/baby wipes for clean-up

Directions:

1. Spread newspaper on your kitchen floor (or other area you feel is okay for working). Lay a piece of paper down on top of the newspaper. (We used plain white computer paper.) Have your child sit in a chair by the paper. Using a black ink pad, cover the surface of his/her foot with ink. (You can also use black paint, but I decided to try this with ink to make it a bit simpler.) Help your child to step down from the chair directly onto the paper. Carefully lift foot off of paper, clean up the bottom of the foot, and set paper aside so ink can dry. If making more than one penguin, repeat step 1 as many times as desired.
2. Once the ink (or paint) is dry, use white paint (We used recycled Styrofoam trays from meat packaging as our paint palette.) to make the face and tummy of the penguin. For the head, I started with a heart shape for each penguin. Mia was able to do the rest herself, but I did all of Logan's painting. (This was after I gave him the white paint and let him have at it, which ended up being that he covered all of the black foot print with white paint and made what I called an "invisible penguin" since it was on white paper, so please note that you can't really expect a 3 year old to be able to do this on his own.)
3. Now, use black paint for the flippers. Allow paint to dry.
4. Glue two googly eyes to the head. (That's the part that Logan did.) Make a triangular beak out of orange puffy paint (or regular paint if you don't have puffy paint). Allow puffy paint to dry. (This may take overnight.)
5. Your penguin is now ready to be displayed. You can frame it and give it as a Christmas gift, turn it into a card, mount it on colored paper (I am thinking of using red card stock) or just hang it on the refrigerator. Enjoy.

{Foot Print Penguin by Logan, Age 3, with lots of help from Mama}

Butterfly Foot Print Paintings

When I saw these butterfly foot print paintings, I knew we had to make some since they are so cute and we love butterflies. I can see them as an Easter craft, Mother's Day craft, or just a nice craft for spring. They could easily be framed to make nice wall art.

{Footprint Butterfly by Mia, Age 5}

{Footprint Butterfly by Logan, Age 2 1/2}

Materials:

• paper
• foam paintbrushes
• acrylic paint
• Styrofoam trays
• black permanent marker
• newspaper to protect work surface
• old towels, paper towels, baby wipes, etc.

Directions:

1. Before starting this project get ready for a potential mess by protecting your work surface with newspaper. (Note: I recommend doing this on your dining room floor.) Cover kids clothing or have them wear old clothes as acrylic paints will stain. Be sure to have old towels, paper towels or baby wipes handy for quick clean up. (You definitely do not want kids running away with messy feet!)
2. The original picture I found of this craft was using canvases, which would be nice, but I didn't have any. I used white cardstock which I had on hand. Lay the paper on top of the newspaper.
3. Pour about 3 or 4 paint colors of your child's choosing onto a Styrofoam tray (reused from meat packaging) or a plate. Have your child sit in a chair near the paper and paint the colors onto the bottom of one foot using a large foam paintbrush. (I had my kids tell me their preference for the order of the colors first.) Help child off chair and press his foot firmly onto the paper. Note: The placement of the feet is opposite of the way they would naturally be standing. (The left footprint becomes the right wing of the butterfly and the right footprint becomes the left wing.) Be sure to plan accordingly so that you have enough room on your paper for both prints.
4. Clean the bottom of the foot and repeat with the other foot. Try to place the footprints as closely together as possible.
5. Apply some paint to your child's thumb and make two impressions above the wings for the ends of the antennae. Allow paint to dry completely.
6. Using a permanent black marker, draw the butterfly's head, antennae, and body, including a face, if desired. (Note: I realized after doing this that our butterflies weren't truly anatomically correct since they should only have a head and 2 other body segments, but I was doing my best to close the gaps between the footprints. If you are inclined, you can make your butterflies more scientific, but I think ours turned out nicely.)  
   

Rockin' Foot Print Robins

After coming across this photo on Pinterest, I was looking forward to making some cute foot print robins with my two favorite little people. Although, the robin happens to be our state bird, I think of it more as the first sign of spring. With this gorgeous weather, we've been seeing tons of robins lately, and it seems like a perfect early spring project.

{Rockin' Robins by Mia, Age 5 and Logan, Age 2 1/2 (with help from Mama)}

Materials:

• paper
• brown paint
• red paint
• Styrofoam tray to hold paint
• paintbrushes
• newspaper to protect work surface
• orange or yellow marker
• black marker

Optional Materials:

• glue 
• wiggly eye
• feathers
• black puffy paint

Directions:

1. Protect work surface with newspaper. (Tip: I found it's easiest to do this on the floor and have the child sit in a chair until you are ready to make the foot print.) Paint your child's foot brown. Lay your paper on top of the newspaper. Then help your child make a foot print on the paper. Let the paint dry.
2. Fill in the robin's breast with red paint. (This is the instep area of the foot print.) Older kids can do this themselves.
3. Draw a beak and legs with an orange or yellow marker. (The head of the robin is the heel of the foot print.)
4. Add an eye. Mia chose to do this with black marker. Logan used a wiggly eye. (The bird looks perpetually surprised now, perhaps because the wiggly eye is a bit large for the size of the bird's head.) You could also use black puffy paint for the eye as Mia did with her blue jay.
5. If you like, you can also add a feather for the robin's wing. Mia did this later when she decided to create a foot print cardinal. She also made a blue jay with a white feather breast and blue feather tuft on its head. If you like making these foot print robins (or blue jays and cardinals like Mia did) you may also like foot print ducks. What other birds can you come up with?

{Cardinal by Mia, Age 5}

{Blue Jay by Mia, Age 5}

"Just Ducky" Foot Print Painting

Logan's teacher helped him make this cute little duck at play group last week.

{Ducky by Logan, Age 20 Months}

Materials:

• paper
• paintbrush
• yellow or brown paint
• black and orange markers
• bowl or plate to hold paint
• newspaper (optional)
• paper towel, baby wipes, etc. for cleaning up

Directions:

1. Use a paintbrush (foam works well) to apply paint to the bottom of child's foot.
2. Press child's foot onto a piece of paper. (I like to do this by placing the paper on the floor on top of some newspaper and having the child stand on it to make the print.)
3. Clean child's foot and allow paint to dry.
4. Make the heel of the foot print into the duck's head by using a black marker to draw an eye and an orange marker to draw a beak.
5. Display your ducky painting or give it away as a gift. (Foot print art makes a nice Mother's Day present.)

Note: While at play group again today, I noticed the ducks that inspired Logan's teacher and they had been cut out and arranged in a construction paper pond setting. Very cute! (May 18, 2011)

Hand Print/Foot Print Flower Painting

{Flower by Mia, Age 3}

We've seen the first few flowers of spring poking through the ground and it made me think of a spring flower painting Mia and I did last year around this time. With adult help, this craft would work for practically any age. It's easy to do, but can get a bit messy if you're not prepared to clean up as you go.

Materials:

• paper (We used pink.)
• green paint
• another color of paint 
• paint brush (foam worked well)
• newspaper to protect work surface (optional)
• paper towels, wash cloths, baby wipes, etc.

Directions:

1. Cover child's hand with paint and press onto the center of the top part of the paper. Clean off child's hand.
2. Cover bottom of child's left foot with green paint and press onto the paper underneath and to the left of the hand print flower. (We found that doing this on the floor and having the child stand on the paper was easiest.) Clean off child's foot.
3. Repeat step 2 with the right foot. 
4. Using a paint brush, add a green stem to connect the flower with the leaves.
5. Once the paint is dry, display your flower craft.

Note: We used acrylic paint, which dries fast but stains clothing, so be sure to cover clothing or wear some you don't care about ruining if using acrylic paints.