Fall Handprint Wreaths (Toddler Craft)

One of the perks of having toddler-aged children, is that we can finally start doing crafts! Granted, it takes a l-o-n-g time to do anything with so many helpers, but it's still fun to see them working so hard on their own special project.

This is our first official craft, so it's extra special to us! I picked a day that my niece was over so that we could all do it together. Working with my two-year-old quadruplets + their 2-year-old cousin, made for a very exhausting morning. (God bless all you preschool teachers!) But, the kids were so proud when it was all done!

To make our Fall Handprint Wreaths, we started by tracing hands onto white paper. I used a pencil so that I could erase extra lines made while trying to hold wiggling hands still. In the interest of maintaining sanity, I traced one hand per kid, went over the lines with a black sharpie, and then ran them through the copier six times. Can you imagine tracing hands 36 times?! Yikes!

(Tip: If you are tracing multiple hands that are the same size, make sure you write names on the hands so that you can tell them apart later.)

I ran the handprints through the copier six times using two sheets of each of the following colors: yellow, orange, and red. Pretty fall leaves are a must!

Then I cut all of the hands apart leaving room to spare.

We then gathered around our little table, and each child was given his or her own stack of hands to color. By the end of our coloring time, the hands were all mixed up, so that's another good reason to include names!

Clockwise from far left: Elijah, Caleb, Abby, Ellie, and Cousin Aly

Clockwise from bottom left: Caleb, Abby, Ellie, Cousin Aly, and Elijah

Did you notice that Elijah found a ballpoint pen while I was making copies? He decided to decorate his arms and legs. Hehe!

Cousin Aly, Abby, and Ellie

While the kids were coloring, I sat down to draw the acorns (no laughing at my drawing talent, please!). I went for the brown paper, but we didn't have any, so I settled for blue. We like to use our imaginations over here!

Then we took a break for lunch, because coloring is hard work! While the kids ate, I cut out the 36 handprints and 18 acorns so that we would be ready to put everything together after nap time.

I briefly toyed with the idea of using glue to put these together, but then I remembered that I was thinking of giving glue to five 2-year-olds. Uh, no. We went with tape instead! I took each child individually, and helped them put tape on the back of each of their pieces. Then we took a green paper plate (dessert size), and decorated it with our leaves and acorns plus a happy "Fall!" sign.

Cousin Aly with her Finished Wreath

I hung our quadruplets' Fall Handprint Wreaths on our front door, and Cousin Aly took her wreath home to show her parents. My kids have repeatedly wandered over to the door to look at their wreaths since then. It's pretty cute!

I will add this though: Make sure you hang your wreaths high enough that they can't be reached, otherwise your kids may want to disassemble them when you aren't looking. When did they get so tall??

What are your favorite toddler fall crafts? We are excited to do another one soon!