Handprint Trees Craft

This is a project that was done a few years ago, but it's still relevant and way fun for fall. 

I got this idea from a few different Pinterest pins although it was so long ago, I'm just gonna make the claim that I came up with it on my own because I can't seem to find which ones at the moment.  So - TA-DA! I am a genius. ;)

A few years ago, as I was watching my niece and nephews, we did a fun little project as my then-fairly newborn baby and my near newborn nephew were sleeping. 

This project is messy and could quickly go south if you aren't using paint that doesn't wash out and your kids aren't old enough to listen to directions, so think about that before starting this project and heed the warning...if you so choose. 

I've done this two ways. Once, I painted the kids' forearms and hands and then had them lay it on the paper, but this time, we just got a brown piece of paper and traced their hands, then cut the paper and glued it to the paper - creating the ever-creative handprint tree trunk.

Once the tree trunk was completed, I let the kids choose the paint and tried to influence their decisions with fall colors...which worked for the most part. 

Once the colors were picked, we worked on our fine motor skills with two different applications: the pencil eraser and the q-tip. 

Both worked well, although for my (I believe she was 4 at the time?) niece, it was a bit of a challenge, she still made it work and they had a fun time doing it. 

After all was done and dried, I asked the kids what they were thankful for and we wrote it at the top of their papers. This could be a good tradition, if we had kept it up...

In the past, I've also made the handprint on a bag or something that could be useable,  but this was much simpler (and cheaper) than that. 

Ta-Da! A fun fall craft that involves creativity, fine motor skills, reminders to be thankful and other stuff. hehe.

My, where has the time gone? These cuties sure have gotten old...

Happy Fall and pre-Thanksgiving-Christmas-music-listening holidays! :D

PS - I apologize for the delay in posting. I have been so busy with rehearsals for my show that is coming up! In fact, tonight is opening night!! Oh yeah!!!