Fall Hand Print Wreath

Here is another craft I did last year with Mia, who was 2 1/2 at the time. Once again, it is something that I did most of the work on. Of course, older kids can do this more independently. And it is always cute to have hand prints of your kids at various ages.

Materials:

• scissors
• glue
• pencil
• paper plate
• crayon (marker or colored pencil)
• red construction paper
• orange construction paper
• yellow construction paper
• ribbon (or yarn)

Optional Materials:

• rubber stamps
• markers (or ink pads)
• acorns, leaves, pine cones, etc.
• foam scrapbooking adhesives

Directions:

1. Cut out the center of a paper plate.
2. Color the paper plate. We used a green crayon, but fall colors would look nice.
3. Trace child's hand or hands onto red, orange, and yellow construction paper. Cut out hand prints. We used four of each color to make our wreath, but this will vary depending on the size of the hand prints. Arrange hand prints as desired and glue down onto the plate. (Tip: Instead of tracing each hand repeatedly, you can trace each hand once, cut out hand prints, and then use them as templates for tracing the other hand prints. I recommend this method since it requires children to sit still for shorter periods of time!)
4. Cut a length of ribbon (or yarn) and adhere to the back of the plate for hanging. We used foam adhesives, but you could also use glue or tape.
5. Decorate the front of your hand print wreath. We used fall-themed rubber stamps, colored with markers in place of ink. (Tip: If you use more than one color marker per stamp, it helps to apply all of your colors and then to "huff" on the stamp before stamping onto the paper. This moistens any of the ink that may have dried slightly while you were applying other colors.) You could also try gluing on real acorns, leaves, pine cones, or other natural items. We also added a ribbon bow to the front of our wreath.
6. Allow everything to dry completely before hanging your wreath.