Christmas Handprint Art Ideas

When it comes to Christmas and holiday keepsakes, handprint art and craft ideas are one of the best ways to celebrate the season. These ideas make great gifts and decorations and you can keep them for years to remind yourself of how little your kiddos once were.

Whether you are looking for a Christmas or Hanukkah activity, or just something to do on a winter’s day, these handprint (and a few footprint!) art ideas will fill any afternoon with fun.

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Tips for making handprint art:

If you want a more sparse handprint where you see more fingerprints, use a small paintbrush to coat a dry hand with paint and stamp right onto paper.
If you want a more solid looking print, coat the hand and stamp a scrap piece of paper. Then, immediately add another coat of paint and stamp another piece and the second stamp will look more filled in.
For easier paint removal, don’t let the paint fully dry before washing it off. Make as many handprints in that color as you want and then wash before it fully dries.
If you are worried about paint on clothes or tables, try a smock or coated tablecloth for easy clean up!

Penguin footprint art:

This adorable penguin is made with a black footprint and a painted white belly once the black paint is dry. Draw on some wings (or cut a black paper oval in half for the flippers), google eyes, a folded orange paper diamond shape for the beak.

For extra fun, add a scarf or hat to complete the look!

Snow globe handprint art:

snowglobe made with a painted handprint on teal construction paper.

This adorable snow globe craft features the handprint of your little one as the family of snowmen. Just make a white handprint on blue paper, cut out a circle around it and use a Q-Tip to make snow dots, add a brown base and decorate your snow family with markers once your paint is dry.

While you’re at it, make some paper snowflakes to decorate with as well or use our snow globe template for more fun!

Reindeer handprint art:

To make this reindeer, add a brown handprint to a piece of paper and glue on google eyes and a red pom-pom for a nose (or a paper red circle or painted circle works too). You can decorate your antlers with holly to make it more festive!

Santa handprint art:

For Santa, trace and cut out a handprint from your choice of skin tone paper. Use white paint to paint on the beard, add google eyes, a pom-pom nose, and draw a smile. Top your Santa with a paper hat and you can even punch a hole and add a string to make this one a hanging ornament.

Christmas tree handprint art:

For this tree idea, stamp a green handprint upside down to be your tree body. Add a golden star at the top and use puff paints, pom-poms, or stickers to decorate your tree. You can add a trunk with a rectangle of brown paper or use part of a popsicle stick!

Snowman footprint art:

This adorable art is perfect for little feet. Use white paint to make a footprint on a blue piece of paper. You can cut out a hat, nose, and scarf out of paper to glue on, or you can paint or draw them on as well. Try using a ribbon for the scarf or gluing on small black buttons for the coal buttons and eyes!

Salt dough handprint ornaments:

You’ll love this fun project that you can save for years to come. Use our easy salt dough recipe to make fun ornaments and handprint shapes for babies and big kids too!

Wreath handprint art:

For this fun wreath, trace your child’s hand on green paper and cut out 10 handprints. Use a glue stick to glue them together in an overlapping circle and add paper holly leaves and berries or a paper or ribbon bow.

You can either tape up your wreath or punch a hole through it to add a ribbon for hanging.

Mistletoe footprint art:

This sweet idea involves two green footprints with the heels overlapping to make your mistletoe greenery. Add a bow or holly leaf at the top for a little extra holiday spirit and hang where you want to get some extra kisses!

Fingerprint lights:

For this easy project, draw a curvy looping line with a black marker and then let your kid add colored lights along the line with their fingerprints. This would also be fun to use as the front of a holiday card!