Here’s a cute and prickly craft idea: a cactus made from a child’s handprint. You can write a message on the back and use it as a greeting card or hang it on your fridge as art.
This project is a great summertime craft idea—perfect for when your kiddo is learning about plants, or it would be a super cute homemade Valentine’s Day card!
How many cacti puns do you think we can think up without getting stuck? 🙂
Indoor crafts can be great on the hot or long summer days. The best things about handprint crafts? Kiddos can be very involved in the process, and it’s an easy craft they can be proud of.
It’s also fun to look back on past handprints and compare how your child has grown. A few of our other favorite summer activities include: fingerprint art, making homemade slime, and fun paper crafts like making a daisy crown for dress up time.
Looking for other handprint ideas?
- Handprint Butterfly
- 10 Handprint Animals
- Witch Handprint Craft
- Handprint Snow Globe
- Handprint Leprechaun
Why kids love handprint art:
- Handprint art is fun and accessible for all ages of children. My elementary-age daughter enjoys these projects and they are great for babies and toddlers as well.
- This project would also make a super cute card or gift tag for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day or as a teacher’s gift.
- This project is a good one to frame and give as a gift.
Supplies:
- white and craft (brown) cardstock or construction paper
- light green acrylic paint
- kids glue
- scissors
- black pen
- small paper flowers or tissue paper pieces
How to Make a Handprint Cactus:
- This project is best done in stages. The first stage is to do all the handprints. Since handprints require clean up, I like to do everything I need at once. Use a paintbrush to brush acrylic paint onto your child’s hand and help them press down. Be careful to get some pressure on the palm and each finger for the best impression.
- You could also trace their handprints onto green paper if you don’t have paint available. Then you could decorate them with markers, crayons and/or stickers.
- After the handprint paint has dried completely, cut it out and assemble the pot and cactus.
- For the final detail, let children glue on their own flowers using one dot of kids glue per paper flower. As an alternative, you could also use tissue paper to make your own flowers and then glue them onto the handprint.
- Write on the back to make it a card, or poke a hole to turn it into a cute gift tag.
We hope you have fun making this craft!
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Get the How-To
Supplies
- cardstock or construction paper (white and brown)
- acrylic paint (light green)
- kids glue
- pen or marker (black)
- small paper flowers or tissue paper pieces
Instructions
- The first stage is to do all the handprints by painting their hands and having them press their hands onto a piece of construction paper. Use a paintbrush to brush acrylic paint onto your child's hand and help them press down. Be careful to get some pressure on the palm and each finger for the best impression.
- After the handprint paint has dried completely, cut it out and assemble the pot and cactus.
- For the final detail, let children glue on their own flowers using one dot of kids glue per paper flower. You could also use tissue paper to make mini flowers.
- Write on the back to make it a card, or poke a hole to turn it into a cute gift tag.