Santa Handprint Craft

How adorable is this goofy little Santa handprint craft? If you look closely, you can see that the Santa is made up of an upside down handprint, with the bottom of the palm colored red for his hat and the fingers covered in little pom pom cotton balls serving as his beard. It should be noted that I have a minor obsession with handprint crafts. They're such a fun way for kids of all ages to create a personalized art project that the family can treasure for years and years to come.

I have a bit of an obsession with handprint crafts. They’re an easy, fun way for kids of all ages to make something memorable and unique. My sister and I have a large age gap between us, but handprint and footprint projects always brought us together around the craft table. I could dress mind up as much as I wanted, while she could keep hers plain and simply without feeling like she wasn't “doing it right.” We always got our cousins in on the action every year, and the whole crew had a blast. This Santa handprint craft is absolutely adorable and will look super-cute on a refrigerator, Christmas card, or even hanging from the tree. Best of all: it’s not messy!

Santa Craft with your Kids' Handprint

What you’ll need:
White cardstock
Black and red markers
Black cardstock for mounting
Googly eyes
Small white pom poms or cotton balls
Glue
Scissors

1. Draw an outline of the child’s hand using the white paper and black marker.
2. Cut the handprint out.
3. Draw Santa’s hat in the thumb area with the red and black markers.
4. Glue a pom pom or cotton ball onto the thumb/tip of the hat.
5. Add pom poms or cotton balls onto all of the remaining fingers to form a fuzzy beard.
6. Glue googly eyes onto the middle of the face. Let kids experiment with different sizes and colors for the eyes. If you don’t have googly eyes on hand, kids can just draw eyes.
7. Draw a mouth and nose with the red and black markers.
8. Mount it onto a black backing and show it off!

I’ve seen people make cute handprint Santas using paint handprints (white paint on black paper) and even make hand impressions into clay tiles for a more permanent fixture! The fun thing about a lot of kid crafts is that they can be totally adapted depending on the age and number of children involved. You might also want to add some reindeer with handprint antlers or make a family of handprint snowmen by drawing little carrot noses and scarves onto each finger. Be creative, and let kids come up with their own ideas! They could make a Christmas handprint reindeer, a silly little elf, a family of snowmen, a set of candy canes…a print of your hand can become just about anything with a little imagination!

Have you ever made a Santa handprint craft with your kids? I'd love to hear your favorite festive activities for the season!