art with 8 month old

[Jasminesmommy]

I have a day care and I am doing a art project with a 8 month old which are handprints. I am going to decorate them then put in a frame for Mothers day but I can't get them to open there hands. I am dipping it in paint then going to put on paper but there reflect is too close there hand. What do I do to keep it open???

 

[HappyMommy2]

Oh that is so cute--I remember how they keep their little hands scrunched a lot of the time at that age!

Can you do their footprint? Of course then they curl up their toes but sometimes you can still get a good enough print.

 

[mtemm]

footprints are much easier. never could get my son's handprint

 

[Jasminesmommy]

I already did the footprints to fall back on but I would really rather do the handprint. Theres got to be some reflect point to make there hand open.

 

[Beth76]

Try using a paintbrush to put the paint on their hands instead of dipping in the paint.

 

[cgcw]

Hard with an 8 month old but I've done baby handprints while the little one was sleeping. That way they can't curl.

The only time I attempted to do handprints with an older infant was with the help of a friend. I held the hand open, she did the print. Still it turned out messy looking.

Good luck.

 

[skuttle]

My DS is 10 months old. I did handprints last september as his signature to the grandparents day cards I bought the new grandparents. It was tough...I got paint everywhere...on me, on him, on the carpet. I did manage to get a few good prints...I just used one hand to hold his fingers open and then put his hand down on the paper. It was messy, but it worked. Good luck!

 

[tar heel]

You don't dip their hands in paint, you paint the inside of the hand with a thick brush. You get much better paint coverage that way without getting it where you don't want/need it. Turn it into a game -- it may even tickle some kids. Practice without the paint on the brush until you come up with a technique for getting the hand open.

This isn't going to be easy with children that age. When I taught preschool, we usually had a child each year who declined to do paint handprints.

When my youngest was in the baby class at mother's morning out, he "painted" a small flower pot. The flower petals are fingerprints, and the teachers painted leaves, stems, etc., to connect he parts he did. Add a small blooming plant and you've got a great gift. Very cute and not nearly as hard as trying to get an entire handprint.