Home School Art Project – Family Tree From Hand & Foot Print

I’m always trying to come up with new ways to exercise my daughter’s creativity.  Being that she is six years old, she has a lot of input when it comes to our zany creations.  One thing’s for sure — we always have fun coming up with new ideas.

I had been trying to think of a fun art project we could create from my Nixi’s hand and foot prints, but ‘the light bulb’ had continued to elude me.  Finally, last week, the ‘light’ lit-up brightly above my head, and this Hand & Foot Print Family Tree was the result.

Using Nixi’s foot print as the trunk of the tree (which had to be painted, since we had no brown construction paper), we traced and cut enough of her hand prints from green construction/art paper, and labeled each hand (or, should I say ‘leafy tree branch’) with members of our immediate family from both my side and her dad’s side.

One thing I would have done differently — and might still add to the tree leafs later — is to also write the names of Mom, Dad, Bubby, Sissy…Grandma, Grandpa, etc, instead of just their call-names.  It’s really no big deal if you do or don’t add real names to your leafs, because — as in our case — you can always go back and do it later.  These improvisational art projects are pretty flexible that way.

On that note, we were very delighted with the outcome of our family tree creation.  So, however you wish to carry out your process, you’re sure to have oodles of fun with your child…or children, and grand-children, too.  I hope it inspires you to find new and different ways to create family keepsakes with your home schooler.

Thanks for stopping by.  :  )  Please comment and share your ideas and creations?  We can all learn from each other.  Blessings and .V.. (Peace), to you and yours!

*Supplies We Used*

-colored construction paper

-scissors

-Elmer’s school glue

-Crayola washable paints

-white poster board (paper backing for family tree), 11 x 14 inches

-paint brushes (though you can always use your fingers, too)

-pencil for tracing (better than using a pen or marker so you can erase)

VOILA…!!!  Here is our finished result!  We couldn’t be more pleased with our hand and foot print family tree.   If you date your creation, you can always see how big your little one was at any age.  It’ll be a wonderful keepsake-memory…always.