In our household we are big on hand and footprint keepsakes. There is something magical about looking at your littles art crafts and seeing their tiny hands and feet grow!
I know there will come a time when Ashley will outgrow this age and will want to avoid paint on her hands and feet. However, that time has not come yet! Ashley is 3 going on 4 and still loves hands and feet crafts.
Stacey at Glued to My Crafts had the cutest footprint sharks keepsake. I showed it to Ashley and she immediately said, "Mom I wanna do that!" We used different supplies, but had so much fun doing it.
What you'll need for this activity :
Paint in white and shades of blue (Gray paint would have been great for the shark. however, we did not have any at hand)
Paint brush or brushes (We simply used one)
Large wiggle eyes (We used three)
Glue
Blue construction paper
Blue and gray markers (Other colors optional, if your little wants to draw colored fish)
Sharpie (Optional/I used a sharpie to write Ashleys name and the date)
Paper plate (Optional/We used one to mix the colors)
Now, you are ready to go!
First, I helped Ashley by dotting some waves for her to trace.
Then, she said she wanted to draw some pink fish in the ocean.
We did not have gray paint at hand, so Ashley said lets mix colors. We mixed white paint with two shades of blue. One had glitter which was super fun.
Next, came time to take off socks! Ashley loved getting her feet painted. She kept laughing uncontrollably saying how much it tickled. As a parent this laughter is priceless and adds on to the reasons why to love these footprint or handprint activities.
When getting ready to press down your littles feet on the paper, make sure you have wipes galore. This activity is a messy good time. (After we were done, Ashley hopped in the shower to make sure we got all the excess paint off of her little toes) Make sure you don't forget to paint some triangles for fins. As we were doing this, I reminded Ashley which was the dorsal fin and the pectoral fin and we talked a little about the importance of each.
Once you have allowed the paint to dry, its time to glue on those fun googly eyes. We used a glue stick and it was great for dexterity.
When we were done with the craft, I made sure to add Ashleys name and the date. After all this is a keepsake!
Head over to Glued to My Craft, Stacey has many more fun Shark week activity ideas available that are worth checking out.