Easy Toddler Christmas Handprint Crafts

Every year I intend to start on my Christmas cards early…I don’t even send that many, but every year I feel that last postal date creeping up on me and suddenly it’s all go! If that’s you too, don’t worry, these cute Christmas cards are super quick and easy as well as being a lovely keepsake.

These toddler Christmas handprint crafts are perfect for popping on a Christmas card, making gift tags with, or simply making a lovely piece of keepsake art 🙂

I have two different ideas for you here that are super cute – but there are just so many toddler Christmas handprint crafts to try, so I’ve also got a whole list of ideas for you to choose from at the end too, to get you inspired and in the mood for Christmas!

Christmas Handprint Craft Supplies

As well as a willing toddler (that might be the biggest challenge of all!) you will need the following things to hand to make the process as easy as possible:

Paint – For the two we’re making today you’ll just need brown and green
Paper Plate – This is just to put the paint on so any things similar will work fine
Paintbrush – You will use this to paint your child’s hand so it needs to be big enough not to take ages but not so big that paint gets everywhere!
Googly Eyes – because it’s a must 🤪
Pom pom – for Rudolph’s red nose
Holly Decoration – I used sequins that we had, but you could use foam shapes or if you don’t have these you could draw them on
Star – I used a foam star but you might have a sticker, sequins, some glitter – whatever you have
Glitter – to add some Christmas sparkle! (Optional for those who have developed an allergy to glitter since having kids!!)
Strong glue – to hold it all together!

For crafts like this, I highly recommend getting everything you need ready in advance so that you can dive straight in when they’re ready!

TOP TIP: Once you have done your hand prints, have some paper ready for your little one to paint freely on so that you can move the cards away to dry, making it less stressful!

Making the Reindeer Handprint

I did this craft with a big group of kids at a toddler group I ran, and so I wanted to make sure it was as easy as possible for the little ones to do independently (or at least with limited guidance). The beauty of it is, so long as you get a decent-ish handprint it’ll look super cute no matter what!

How to get a good handprint

I’ve tried lots of different methods over the years to get the best painted handprint (especially from a fidgety toddler!) and I find the best way is to paint the hand with a paintbrush (we recently did some handprints for that you can find in our Dear Zoo Crafts

We’ve tried putting the paint on a plate and having the child press their hand in, but this usually ends up being too much paint on the hand and you loose all the definition. I do use plates but just for somewhere to put my paint and dip my brush!

Once you’ve painted your child’s hand (making sure there’s enough paint on the hand but not too much that it squidges everywhere!) press down firmly and keep there for a few seconds. Peel hand off the paper keeping hand flat and upright if possible (this is the ideal not the reality!!)

Transform your handprint into a reindeer!

When I did this craft, we didn’t have time to wait for the paint to dry before adding any features – it’s probably easier if you can but it is possible! (They don’t take too long to dry and can be helped along by a hiar dryer if you want to do in one sitting!)

Whilst the paint is still wet, this is the time to add any glitter you may want (make sure the lid is on firmly – we had a few VERY glittery reindeer 🤦)

Adding the decorations will make your reindeer really come to life and actually look a bit like a reindeer!

Add the googly eyes (a lot of them have sticky backs to peel off but they aren’t always the strongest – if you have trouble getting them to stick, I recommend using foam sticky fixers)
Add the Red Pom pom nose (again a prit stick isn’t going to do the job here – we used a glue gun to make sure ours made it home in one piece but PVA should work if left to dry)
Add the holly and the berries (You might choose to have your child colour these on – bingo marker make great berries and some green splodges make artistic holly!)

And there you have it! One beautiful Christmas handprint reindeer!

TOP TIP – Make this on a separate piece of card that you can stick on to the tag or Christmas card that you’re making – this stops you from wasting too many cards if any go wrong)

How to Make a Christmas Tree with Finger Prints!

As an alternative to handprints, this fingerprint Christmas tree is a lovely craft to try with little ones! You can make this just the same way as the reindeer by painting your child’s finger tip and pressing onto the card (they will need some guidance on this – you could draw some faint dots to give them an idea)

Again add glitter and shake off excess and add a brown finger print for the base of the Christmas tree.

For the top we added a foam star but you can use any sticker or even paint on to the top of the tree (juss be careful not mix with the green too much!)

Alternative ideas for your toddler Christmas handprint crafts!

Angel wing handprints – Print on to card and then add a simple triangle body and circle head complete with halo!
Christmas Tree Handprint – Instead of using finger tips as in the above example, you could use an upside handprint for your Christmas tree instead
Santa head – Using an upside down handprint again, half white for the beard and half red with a red thumb for his hat – add white pom poms for decoration
Snowman fingers – Use a white hand print to make 5 mini snowmen by drawing on small black dots for buttons and adding a hat and tiny string scarf!
Handprint Christmas Wreath – Use your child’s hands to make a circle of green handprints shaped like a wreath and add a bow to complete!
Christmas Robin – Using a brown handprint on it’s side, a a red tummy and beak for a cute little bird
Fingerprint Christmas Lights – This is a super easy one – simply draw a wiggly black line and add different colour finger prints for lights with glitter for sparkle
Elf Face handprint – paint only the middle three fingers green for the elf hat and leave the rest for elf skin with the finger and thumb for fun pointy ears!

No paint handprint options!

These are ideas for painting handprints but you can do lots of Toddler Christmas Handprint Crafts with no paint whatsoever. If you are looking for an alternative why not try these:

Salt Dough Handprint Impressions
Cardboard Handprint Cutouts
Felt tip outlines

All of these can be used to make all of the crafts in a different way without the mess of paint if that’s not your thing 🙂

↓ Pin me for later ↓

↑ Don’t forget to pin ↑

Wrapping It Up

Whether you are wrapping up Christmas presents with beautiful handmade gift tags, or crafting some lovely Christmas cards I hope you enjoy these making these toddler Christmas handprint crafts!

Louisa | Mum’s Creative Cupboard x