It can be a challenge to keep children constructively occupied during school holidays. With a little guidance from you, children can use their imagination to make amazing works of art while having fun in the process. Finger-painting is a great activity for children and can keep them happily engaged for several hours.
Creative yet Simple Hand Painting Ideas for Children
Here are ten simple yet creative hand and finger-painting ideas for children.
1. Handprint Chicks
Hand painting for kids is a great idea for younger children as their tiny handprints will make cute little chicks.
What You Need
- Acrylic paints
- Paintbrush
- Pencil and an eraser
- Plastic container
- Craft eyes
- A4 size paper
How To Make
- Pour some yellow paint into the plastic container.
- Get your child to dip her palm into the paint such that the entire palm is well-coated with the yellow paint.
- Get your child to make two palm impressions on the white sheet.
- Ensure that the fingers face right, and palms face left on both the impressions.
- Draw an outline of a chicken’s beak on the edge of the palm side that is facing left.
- Draw outlines of legs in the edge of the palm side that is facing the bottom. Of the page.
- Get your child to use orange paint to colour the beak and legs.
- Stick a craft eye in the middle of the palm impression a little above the beak.
- Your handprint chickens are ready. You can frame these artworks for display.
2. Thumbprint Peacock
This is one of the finger-painting activities for kids that are very colorful and creative.
What You Need
- Acrylic paints
- A4-sized paper
- Pencil
- Eraser
- Paintbrush.
How To Make
- Draw the outline of a peacock’s head, body and legs with the peacock facing front.
- Get your child to colour the peacock blue with a paintbrush, leaving the eye white.
- Draw a light outline of a large semi-circle around the peacock’s body to represent the fanned-out feathers of the peacock’s plumage.
- Now ask your child to make light-green thumbprints representing the peacock’s fanned-out feathers within that semi-circle.
- She can then make orange or golden prints with the tip of her index finger inside each green thumbprint.
- Next, she can make blueprints using her little finger inside each of the golden fingerprints. This will look like the colorful, fanned-out feathers of a peacock.
3. Fingerprint Autumn Tree
Let your kids get close to nature and understand the seasons with this one.
What You Need
- A4-sized sheet
- Dark coloured sketch pen.
- Acrylic paints
How To Make
- Draw an outline of a tree with well-spread branches using black or dark brown sketch pen.
- Help your child colour in the tree outline with dark brown paint or sketch pen.
- Ask your child to place different coloured fingerprints on the edge of the branches to look like bunches of fall-coloured leaves.
- You can use red, orange, yellow, brown and some green for the fingerprints representing leaf clusters.
4. Dandelion-Puffs Card
This is a great idea for a greeting card that can be given to relatives.
What You Need
- A dark coloured A4 size sheet.
- Pencil
- Eraser
- Paintbrush.
- Acrylic paints
How To Make
- Fold the A4 sheet in half.
- On the outside, draw 3 or 4 dandelion green stalks of varying lengths.
- Draw a few green protrusions spreading out on top of the stalks to denote the sepals that hold the dandelions in place.
- Draw a dark brown circle above the sepals to denote the centre of the dandelion puff.
- Colour in the stalks green and the centre of the dandelion dark brown using a paintbrush.
- Now coat your child’s little finger with white paint. Ask her to make white fingerprints all around the centre of the dandelion puff to denote the white dandelion floaters.
5. Snowmen Card
This can be made during winter or Christmas time.
What You Need
- A yellow or orange coloured A4 size sheet.
- Acrylic paint.
- Orange, black and red sketch pens.
- A shallow plastic or Styrofoam container large enough to fit your child’s palm.
How To Make
- Fold over the sheet into half.
- Put some white paint in the plastic container.
- Ask your child to dip her palm into it such that the four fingers and half the palm are coated with white paint.
- Now ask her to make a half-handprint impression on the outside of the card. The half-palm denotes a snowy mound, and the four fingers will become snowmen of varying sizes.
- Now help your child draw a black hat, orange carrot-nose, red scarf, eyes and mouth on the head of each fingerprint to make it look like a snowman.
- Next, let your child use her little finger to make random white fingerprints all around the snowmen to denote falling snow.
6. Fingerprint Caterpillar
If your child loves the story of the Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, she will love this.
What You Need
- Acrylic paints
- The white A4 sheet.
- Pencil
- Eraser
- Black sketch pen
- Paintbrush.
How To Make
- On one corner of the sheet, draw an outline of the sun with rays and ask your child to colour it yellow using a paintbrush.
- Draw outlines of clouds on the top of the sheet near the sun and ask your child to paint them blue or grey.
- In the middle of the sheet, ask your child to first make an orange or peach-coloured thumbprint to denote the caterpillar’s head. Help your child draw eyes, antennae and a smiling mouth.
- Next, ask your child to make green adjoining thumbprints following the face of the caterpillar so that it looks like the caterpillar’s body.
- Draw tiny black legs on the bottom of each green thumbprint.
- Leave a small gap below the caterpillar and then ask her to make fingerprints of various colours to look like multi-coloured pebbles.
7. Thumbprint Heart Greeting Card
Has your spouse been having a rough time at work? Partner up with your kiddo and come up with this!
What You Need
- Acrylic paints
- A4 size sheet
- A big heart-shaped paper
- Blue-tack or tack-it (a playdough-like adhesive)
- Containers
How To Make
- Fold the white sheet in half.
- On the outside of the card, stick the heart-shaped paper in the middle using the blue-tack.
- Ask your child to dip her finger in the different coloured paints and make random fingerprints around the heart shape and all along its border.
- Remove the heart-shaped paper and the blue-tack.
8. Handprint Butterfly
Get your kid to be an amateur lepidopterist through this exercise.
What You Need
- Acrylic paints
- Black sketch pen
- Pencil
- Eraser
- Paintbrushes.
- A white sheet
How To Make
- Use the paint brushes to paint all your child’s fingers and both palms in different colors.
- Paint two fingers blue, 2 green, the thumbs red, and the palms a mix of red, yellow and orange.
- Make sure to do this quickly and keep the paint from drying.
- Now ask the child to join her thumbs together and place the painted hands on the sheet so that 2 multi-coloured handprints emerge, looking like the wings of a butterfly.
- Outline the coloured impression of the joined thumbs in the middle using a black sketch pen to make it look like the body, head and antennae of the butterfly.
9. Little Firemen
This task is best performed by kids who are older than ten years of age.
What You Need
- A white sheet of paper.
- Acrylic paint.
- A shallow plastic container.
- Black sketch pen, pencil, eraser
- Blue glitter glue
How To Make
- Dip the child’s hand in the red paint so that her palm is coated with it.
- Make a handprint in the middle of the paper.
- Dip her thumb into the light brown paint and make thumbprints on top of each finger.
- Draw eyes, a mouth, and a fireman’s hat on each thumbprint to make them look like little fire-fighters.
- Draw a matchstick hand on either side of each finger impression.
- You can draw a water pipe that looks like it’s going through each of the firemen’s hands.
- Draw jets of water spurting from one end of the pipe using blue glitter glue.
10. Fingerprint Paperweights
This can be used to jazz up some of the paperweight you have at home.
What You Need
- Smooth paper-weight sized pebbles or stones
- Acrylic paints
- Paintbrushes
How To Make
- Ask your child to paint the pebble in any color she likes.
- Once it is dry, ask her to make a flower shape using different coloured fingerprints.
- Complete the flower by outlining it with a paintbrush so that the flower shape looks well-defined.
- After it is dry, the pebble can be used as a hand-painted paperweight.
You can also try other ideas like making fingerprint monsters and turkeys. Try these ideas for a fun way to keep your children occupied during their holidays!
