Hand-Printed Palm Trees

So I went to work today intending to paint the kids' feet green so they could make palm trees for our last beach craft. The feet would be the leaves. Well, I quickly realized that their feet are too big to fit on regular construction paper. (I wanted to use about 5 footprints all around in a circle, plus put a tree trunk underneath.) So I did a little brainstorming and decided to try the side of my fist (which is how we made our eagles). I loved it!

I called the kids over one at a time to paint their fist, however putting paint on a plate and letting them dip their fist into the paint would work as well.

I did two or three stamps with one hand,

and then two or three stamps with the other hand so the leaves would be facing the right direction.

When it's done in a little circle, you have a lovely top to your palm tree!

The easiest thing to do next would be to have the kids paint the trunk, but it was time for us to eat snack. By the time we got around to finishing the project, the paint was dry. So I decided to have them do all the coloring first (make a beach and a sky) before doing any more painting. This way they wouldn't have to worry about getting wet paint on their hands.

Then they took a brush dipped in brown paint to make the tree trunk.

And finally they used their thumbprints to make coconuts.

I really like how they turned out. I think I like them better than footprints!

 

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