Generations of preschoolers and kindergarten children have been making turkeys from their handprints around Thanksgiving. However, there are a variety of other arts and crafts that can be shaped by young students with the help of their handprints. With the combined handprints of a class, you can create Christmas trees, flowers, rainbows or animals by pasting them on construction paper. Use plaster of Paris to create handprint wall hangings for the children to give to friends and family as presents, or add the prints to Christmas angels as wings. To decorate the classroom, string up handprints to make a garland or make a tree with leaves carrying the children's names written on prints cut out of green construction paper.
Elementary students will be working more independently with their handprints and teachers don't have to assist anymore with the cutting and decorating process. The children also discover that the handprints can be made into items that have a practical use. Around the time of national holidays, ask the children to make cards from their handprints and add personal messages. Alternatively, use the handprints as gift tags or glue them on magnets for use on the fridge. A set of handprints pasted on top of each other can become a photo frame, and decorated craft foam pieces shaped as a hand are suitable coasters.
Students in middle school can be introduced to the symbolic meaning of hands by combining the craft with other subject lessons. Ask the students to write small poems and haiku about hands on their prints. For collage art, the students can find the meaning of hand gestures in various cultures, including Native American, Celtic or Hispanic, and write it on their handprints before pasting the individual pieces on a canvas. In a cross-curricular craft activity with science, teach the bone and muscle structure in biology class by asking the students to make a template of their own handprint and have them add names or drawings of the elements found beneath the skin.
Some high school students might find handprint art beneath their aptitude, but you can teach them otherwise by initiating conceptual projects that challenge their thinking skills and creativity. Give themes and mottoes, which can include "Friendship," "Entertainment" or "What's in a hand?" and ask them to create a piece of art involving their own handprint. Encourage them to apply abstract thinking or even science when doing the project. You can either restrict the use of materials and tools to, among others, exclusively paper and hand tools, or give free reign, which can involve clay or computer animations. As inspiration, you can show examples from Arabian Henna hand painting, drawings by Albrecht Durer and Maurits Cornelis Escher, or illustrations from biology textbooks.