Dr. Seuss Hand Print Craft: Thing 1 and Thing 2 (and 3 and 4!)

You’d think with my obsession with foot and hand print crafts and the fact that Pipsqueak is nearly 6 months old and that we’ve now celebrated Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Valentine’s Day with him that I’d have tons of tiny little baby prints all over the place. But alas, I don’t.  The mommy crafting gene has been M.I.A. since sweet little Pipsqueak joined the family but I’m really trying to be better about it because not only are arts and crafts fun for all of us (other than the clean up–my main beef with doing them!), they’re really important for kids’ creative development and fine motor skills.

So, with Dr. Seuss’s birthday just around the corner, I figured why not do a Dr. Seuss Hand print Craft and commemorate our first 6 months as a family of 6 with a collage of “Things.”  I found tons of great examples on Pinterest and took my inspiration from this Pin but of course, changed it up to meet our individual family.Dr. Suess hand print craft: A whole family of "Things."

It’s all too fitting because I’ll readily admit to calling my babies “things.”  But really, more often I refer to them as “baby 1” or “baby 4.”  (It started when Honeybun was just starting solids and I would tell hubby “clean up on baby 1!”)  So instead of labeling our Dr. Seuss Hand print Craft “Things” as things, we labeled them as “baby” to fit our family needs.

I also put ours on black paper and used white paint for the faces and tummies instead of leaving them blank.  I also let the kids choose their own body colors and draw their own faces (except Pipsqueak, of course, because he would have eaten the pen and his Thing!)

Here’s what you need for the Thing 1 and Thing 2 (and 3 and 4) Dr. Seuss Hand print Craft:

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Here’s how to make the Thing 1 and Thing 2 (and 3 and 4) Dr. Seuss Hand print Craft:

  1. Paint the fingers and partway down the sides of the palm on one hand blue.  Paint the palm out to the wrist white.  (For Pipsqueak I added the white after since he just wanted to squish his hand up!)Dr. Seuss Hand Print Craft, Thing 1 and Thing 2
  2. Carefully place the hand on the black paper with the fingers splayed and pointed towards the top of the paper.  Wiggle each finger and press the palm into the paper.
  3. Paint a white circle on the palm of the other hand and paint around the circle with the color of the child’s choice as well as the pinkie finger and thumb (these will be the arms) and two other fingers (these will be the legs, both girls chose their pointer and ring fingers so I did the same for the boys).Dr. Seuss Hand Print Craft, Thing 1 and Thing 2
  4. Again, carefully place the hand on the paper, this time upside down with the palms next to each other.  Wiggle each painted finger and press the palm into the paper.Dr. Seuss Hand print Craft
  5. Allow the pictures to dry for a few hours.
  6. Let the kids use the black marker to draw a face on their Thing and write a name on the tummy (could be “Thing 1,” the child’s name or, a nickname, as we did.)
  7. Trim around the “Things” and mount on another bright piece of paper.

Tips for hand print crafts:

  • Coat the paint on SUPER thick and quickly reapply if you take too long to apply multiple colors or the prints won’t come out well.
  • Have kids splay their hands really wide with nice straight fingers in order to speedily and evenly coat with paint (it tickles so little ones will naturally want to curl up their hands!)
  • For babies, have a helper hold their fingers open while you apply the paint as they’ll want to try to squish it (and may try to eat it so make sure all painted hands are held away from mouths!)Tips for doing hand print art with babies
  • Older kids can wash their hands after the craft is complete and as the paint dries so quickly on the skin, messes shouldn’t be a big problem.
  • Use baby wipes on smaller ones to quickly and easily wipe away the excess paint from hands.

Dr. Suess hand print craft: A whole family of "Things."

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3 Comments

  1. Ellen Christian February 25, 2016
  2. Anne February 25, 2016
  3. Nicole B February 25, 2016