Sweet Pea is 4 years old.
From: Initially I thought this cute heart picture from I Really Should Be Sleeping was made from fingerprints. I quickly realized that her version was made of out buttons, but decided that a heart made from fingerprints would be fun for Sweet Pea to make.
Material:
- A sheet of sturdy paper or card stock.
- Re-positionable laminating sheets or an 8 1/2 x 11 inch piece of removable contact paper. (You must use something that will peel back off without tearing the paper.)
- Scissors.
- Several colors of washable stamp pads. (Most of ours came from the Klutz Fingerprint book. I also found this set of washable mini stamp pads online, but I have not used them.)
- Apron or smock for your tot.
Procedure:
- Fold the contact paper sheet in half and cut out a “half heart” shape. Unfold the contact paper.
- You should now have a heart and a sheet of contact paper that contains a heart-shaped hole. Set the heart aside.
- Remove the backing from the laminating sheet that contains a heart-shaped hole.
- Stick the sheet of contact paper to a piece of sturdy paper.
- Show your tot how to press his finger onto the ink pad and then press it onto the paper to leave a fingerprint.
- Instruct your tot to put his fingerprints all over the paper.
- Repeat with other colors of ink until the entire heart has been covered.
- Remove the contact sheet from the paper and admire your tot’s heart.
Observations: Sweet Pea loves making fingerprints and hand prints so this was a big hit.
While Sweet Pea had a lot of fun, it did take longer to fill-in the entire heart than I expected. Sweet Pea worked diligently at it, but if your child has a short attention span, you might want to break this activity into 2 or 3 sessions.
Several months ago, when we made finger print animals, Sweet Pea had a difficult time putting her fingerprints exactly where they needed to go. This activity seemed much easier than that one because she could put the prints wherever she wanted.
We had a lot of fun and ended up with a lovely picture that made a nice gift for Sweet Pea’s grandmother.
I would recommend this activity for older tots (about age 3 and up).
Notes from the Trenches: Pay particular attention to the edges of the heart.Sweet Pea tried to put her fingerprints entirely inside the heart, so I had to encourage her to put her prints on the contact paper too. It will look better if some of the finger prints are cut off at the edge. (Half of the print should be on the plain paper, while the other half is on the laminating sheet.)
Rating: 3 Stars * (Fun, Easy, Frugal)
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