Handprint Apple Trees

Little hands need simple crafts. These handprint apple trees are adorable and simple enough for little hands to feel like they accomplished something.

Tools & Materials:

• Red Washable Paint
• Green, Brown, and White Construction Paper
• Markers
• Scissors
• Glue Stick 
• Paper Plates

To make this craft easier, I cut out green tree tops ahead of time for the kids.  Older children could cut out their own.


First, we traced each child's hand and arm on brown construction paper and cut it out.  You could also use brown paint for this, but we didn't want to wait for the paint to dry before doing the rest of the project.





 
Then, we assembled our trees, gluing the green tops on our white construction paper and adding the handprint trunks on top.

 

Next, I gave each child a paper plate with some red paint.  They used their thumbs to print apples on their trees and on the bottom of their pages.  Some even had them falling from the tree.  You may have to help younger toddlers with this.  If your child is squeamish about touching paint, it helps to make funny noises while you do this!

While our apples dried, I gave the kids extra colors on their plates and let them finger paint.  I always like to include some more open-ended creating in with a more structures project like this so the kids have an opportunity to make whatever they like.

Once the apples dried, we added stems, leaves, and grass with our markers and added their names to the top.  It's important to always include your child's name on their artwork.  It gives them a sense of ownership and lets them have another chance to see their name in print.

These make cute keepsakes for parents and would even be fun to do on a bag or apron for a teacher.