Make spiky dinosaurs or Thanksgiving turkeys out of handprints. Have each child place his hand on a piece of construction paper with the fingers spread out wide. Trace her hand and have her cut it out. Give children googly eyes to glue onto the thumb, which becomes the head of the creature. They can then cut out and glue on paper feet or feathers or decorate the creature with crayons and markers. If a child doesn't want to make a turkey or a dinosaur, encourage her to invent a new type of creature.
Handprint imprints make easy gifts for children to make for their parents. Give each child a lump of clay, or make your own. Mix together 4 cups of flour, 1 cup of salt and 1 3/4 cups of warm water. Knead everything together using your hands for five to 10 minutes. Add a few drops of food coloring to tint the dough. Give each child a chunk of the dough, then have him flatten it out into a disk. Help each child press his hand firmly into the dough, then pull it out. Etch the date and the child's name into the dough with a toothpick. Let the prints dry, then have children paint them.
Help children develop their cutting skills by making handprint butterflies. Give each child a sheet of white paper. Fold the paper in half and place the child's hand on the paper with the bottom of her palm against the fold. Trace the outline of her hand and have her cut out the shape with the paper still folded. Trace her index finger only on another piece of paper, and have her cut it out. Unfold the hand cutout and glue the index finger cutout on top to create the butterfly's body. Glue on antennae made from pipe cleaners and have children decorate their butterflies with crayons and glitter.
Use your hand prints to teach children about how they are all different. Paint each child's palm and fingers with white paint and press it onto a piece of black paper. If the print isn't clear or doesn't show fingerprints, repeat this with another piece of paper. Once you've made a print of each child's hand, spread them out on table or tape them to a wall. Ask children to examine all the handprints and see if they can spot similarities and differences in the fingerprints.