Handprint Art - Native Americans

I was trying to think of an easy way to make Native Americans for our new book, and this idea just popped into my head.  I still can’t believe it worked!!  I'll update this tomorrow after we add the details, but had to post now in case it would help someone else.  ;-)

For the boy, paint each finger (not the thumb) a different color.  Paint the entire palm brown.

For the girl, paint the index and pinky fingers black, then continue those lines down to form a U.  Paint the rest of the palm brown.

Note:  The girl is made with fingers pointing down, while the boy is made fingers pointing up.

Here is the finished product:

Handprint Art - Fall Trees

For Fun Friday this week, we turned some broken crayons into a wonderful fall keepsake...Handprint Trees!

Begin by tracing your child’s hand and arm on brown paper.  Cut it out, and set it aside.  Next, give each child a piece of waxed paper and a few crayons in fall colors (with the paper peeled off).  Give your chid an old pencil sharpener, and have them make a few crayon shavings onto half of the wax paper.  

(We used a fine grater for this step, and I’m still trying to figure out how to clean the wax off!  So, ignore the picture and skip the grater!)  Another option is to have another JungleMama make a bunch of shavings for the children to sprinkle on to make their creation.  Thanks Jen!

Next, fold the wax paper over and place a sheet of copy paper or an old T-shirt over the top.  (I tried it with a towel and it was too thick to work well.)  Use an iron on medium heat, to go over the top.  This is the most fun part, so make sure the children are gathered around!  The finished result will be something like this... 

The colors sometimes bleed through the wax paper, which is why you want a thin layer of paper or fabric to protect your iron.

Cut the wax paper into a cloud shape to resemble the leaves of the tree, then glue on the handprint trunk.  Simple, and beautiful in a window.  ;-)