This activity has nothing to do with literacy, but it’s one of those things every mom should have. I made them with my kindergarten students, my own kids, and my friends’ kids. The picture above was taken at my friend’s house. I love the way she displayed her girls’ handprints.

Here’s a close-up of the finished handprint.Here’s how to make the handprints.

I started with some old movie film containers from Creation Station and LOTS of play-doh.  I filled the container with play-doh, to create a mold.  I had the kids press their hand into the play-doh, until it was flush with the surface.

I found that sentence strips fit perfectly around the container.

I bought the plaster at Lowe’s.  For each handprint, I used two cups of plaster and one cup of cold water.

I mixed the plaster in a plastic bag.  I really hate the mess plaster makes.  This is a fairly mess-free method.

Once the plaster is all mixed, I pour it into the mold.

Then, it’s time to wait.  I usually wait a few hours for the plaster to dry.

Once it’s dry, I take the sentence strip off and pop the play-doh and plaster out of the tin.  It sounds complicated, but it’s really as easy as making a mold and pouring the plaster.
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