MAMA Activity Post: ‘Snow Much Fun’ Part 1

So as some of you may have seen my first blog post featured some handprint snowmen! I loved this idea so much I decided to get daddy involved in the action, so we could create some lovely family pictures to display this Christmas and then add to my MAMA journey folder!

Equipment:

For the painting bit;

– Plastic activity mat for floor or table.

– White paint (water based, non toxic).

– Paint pots / paper plates.

– Coloured card (we used blue to give an icy wintery feel but it could be any colour.

– Paint brushes / sponges.

– Coasters / placemats (if required).

– Old clothes / aprons for you and your child.

For the decoration bit;

– Permanent marker pens.

– Glitter pens.

– Felt tips.

Step 1: Preparation.

Set up all of your painting equipment either on the floor or table. For this MAMA activity make sure you only put out white paint first and have clean brushes/sponges so you get a crisp white picture.

Make sure you have wipes and an old towel handy and you and your child are in old clothes/have aprons on. Prepare to get messy!

Step 2: Experimentation.

I always let my son experiment a bit first, he likes to squeeze the paint on his hands and check out the brushes first.

Step 3: Hand print time.

It is a good idea for you to do your handprint first and then encourage your child to copy. An older child may then start to paint their own hand. If they don’t you will have to do it for them, as you will for younger children. I’ve found it best to try and make it into a game, as then they’re more likely to go along with it!

When hands are covered encourage your child to slam their hands down onto card (you can demonstrate doing this on another piece of card/paper at the same time). Alternatively gently push their hands down onto the card or with the card on a hard surface (coaster or placement depending on size of your card) push the card up towards the hand. I have had success with both ways is it depends on which you find easiest. If you have very young child who’s hands are still clenched you may have to do this whilst they are sleeping!

Add as many peoples handprints as you like to create a family painting! Again these can all be done on the same card or individual ones then cut out and stuck together afterwards.

Step 4: More Experimenting!

When you have set aside the handprints you are happy with, add in extra colours of paint/card and let your child (and you) play around!
It was at this point that my son and I came up with a new game that produced some lovely pictures (so keep an eye out for ‘Snow Much Fun’ Part 2).

Step 5: Tidy tidy tidy up!

Remove excess mess with wipes then, if required it’s bath time and depending on what colours you’ve used you can get quite interesting colours in your bath water!
Clean up the rest of the painting equipment – I often soak brushes and pots at the time then clean them properly when bedtime is done and dusted.

Step 6: Dressing up your snowman!

I used a mix of felt tips/permanent markers and glitter pens to add faces, buttons, hats and scarfs to the fingers of the handprints to create snowmen. you could use other things here like stickers/foam shapes to stick on etc and do it yourself or include older children.
Let your creativity run wild!

Now you have a lovely family picture to display over Christmas time and remind you of all the fun you had together!

Feel free to ask questions / comment or share your snowmen pictures with us and don’t forget we are on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as well as here on the blog.