As Father’s Day quickly approaches this year, you are likely wondering what gift your children can give their dad that would be meaningful and fun.  You are in luck! I have two handprint Father’s Day crafts that will surely be memorable keepsakes.  The process of making these crafts will also be a fun memory for you and your kids.    

Handmade Gifts Make the Best Gifts

One of the best gifts to receive is something that has been handmade because of the time that was spent making it.  The smile dad will have when he sees his kids’ creativity is priceless.  

The handprint Father’s Day crafts below are also a great way to capture your child’s handprint since they are growing so fast, right? You might have put your family’s handprints in the cement on your driveway, but the cement will not fit in your family photo album.  

Dad will be in awe when he sees how much imagination has been put into these crafts.  He might even shed a tear because these crafts are straight from the heart. The superhero handprint craft is more ideal for elementary school kids who are able to use scissors, and the animal handprint craft is more so a handcraft Father’s Day craft for preschoolers.  You know your kids best so jump in when you see they need help.   

Supplies Needed for Superhero Handprint Father’s Day Crafts

• Construction Paper
• Glue Stick (glue stick are less messy than liquid glue on this craft)
• Pencil (for tracing the hand)
• Kid Friendly Scissors

One of the fun parts of this craft is choosing which superhero to make for Dad! I made Iron Man and The Hulk, but feel free to use these steps as a guide if your child chooses another superhero.  

Instructions for making Superhero Handprint Father’s Day Crafts

Step One: Make the Handprint Base

You will first make the base of the card.  Below the red card is for Iron Man, and the purple card is for The Hulk.  Fold the construction paper in half, then have your child trace their hand with their wrist on the fold of the paper.  This will ensure the handprint will be able to open like a card and that both sides of the card (hand) will match up.  Once you have traced the hand, keep the paper folded and cut the handprint out.  

Step Two: Add The Face

Now you will add the mask to the handprint you just cut out.  Grab some yellow or gold paper for the mask.  Trace the red handprint on the yellow paper. Be sure to have a mask that fits appropriately on the handprint. It will not be too big or too small.  

On the yellow handprint, draw an octagon on the palm of the hand that reaches the base of each finger.  At the top of the octagon, draw two rectangles that are separated by a space that you will cut out thus resembling the top of Iron Man’s mask. Then cut out the mask. Cut out two white rectangles for his eyes, and draw the bottom half of his mask in.  

For the Hulk, grab some green construction paper, and trace the purple handprint that you cut out.  The same theory applies here that once you trace the original handprint, the face will fit nicely onto it.  Draw a curve that extends across the base of the thumb yet does not reach the base of the other fingers.  You will see how my curve slants up as it travels from below the pointer finger to below the pinky.     

Since the shape of his face is not as precise as the Iron Man mask, you can take some creative liberty here before gluing it on.  Then cut out the green face.   Once you have glued the green face on to the purple handprint, cut a small black rectangle the size of the wrist and glue it on. After it is on, you can cut slivers in the black to break the hair up.  Then draw in his eyebrows, eyes and nose.  I added a few creases in his face to show emotion.  

Step Three: Personalize Your Card

Write your Father’s Day message on the inside.  Feel free to get punny here! Or you can make up your own superhero saying.  I am sure the kiddos will come up with something fun to write.

Supplies Needed For Animal Handprint Father’s Day Craft 

• Washable Kids Paint (washable washes off the hands easy!)
• Old Shirt for kiddos to wear in case paint gets on it
• Old Newspaper or Cloth 
• Construction Paper
• Paint Brushes
• Markers

Instructions for making Animal Handprint Father’s Day Craft 

Step One: Create The Animal Using Paint

Place the old newspaper or cloth down before starting so you do not get any paint on the table.  You want the craft to be the memory not the paint stain on the table.  Choose the color construction paper you would like to use.  Then use the paint brushes to paint your hand! For paint colors, I use multiple colors, if making a fish, and I only use green paint when making the dinosaur.  Let your kids’ imaginations run wild here.  You will want to make the handprint quickly after you have painted your child’s hand so the paint does not dry on his or her hand.  Use the paint brushes to touch up the handprint as necessary.  

Step Two: Animal Detailing

Add details to the handprint.  I added an eye and a smile to the fish.  After detailing the dinosaur’s face, I outlined his body.  

Step Three: Decorate the Background & Personalize 

Add details to the background, and write a fun Father’s Day message.  For the dinosaur, a “Dino-mite Dad” seemed to be a fitting Dad joke! For the fish, I added “Of all the fish in the sea, I’m glad you’re my dad!”  Again, let your kids have fun with words and creating their own message.  

Storing Hand Crafts for Future Memories

After dad sees these handcrafts on the special day, you will want to keep them out for all to see a little while longer.  Celebrate your kids’ work and honor dad by keeping the handcrafts on display for the following week!  Once you are ready to store them, place them in a paper protector or folder.  Then put that folder in a box.  You can take out the box on future Father’s Days or whenever your family wants to reminisce on past holidays.  

When the kids are teens, you will love looking at these keepsakes that bring you back to their childhood.  Dad will also enjoy ‘remembering the good old days’ once the kids have grown and left the nest.  Storing your handcrafts in a safe place will ensure these memories last and stay close by.  

Your kids might want to make similar handcrafts when it comes to school projects or other holidays now that they know how to make these.  Keep the craft supplies around.  You never know when genius will strike! With summer ahead, these materials will come in handy for a crafty afternoon.  

FAQs

Footprint crafts for Father's day

Just like using your kid's hand prints to make father's day crafts, you can also use their painted footprints.  Kids can use a combination of their footprints and Dad's shoeprints and write interesting quotes like "stepping into my heroes' shoes" or "walking on Dad's footsteps" on these cards and create fun crafts.

Father's day handprint canvas ideas

Canvas is easy to store and frame on walls, so it will be a great idea to consider this medium for making your father's day crafts. Just like designing the other crafts mentioned above, kids can include their colorful handprints/footprints along with simple drawings of things their father enjoys like baseball, motorcycles, and include punny quotes in their canvas crafts. You can easily buy small canvas suitable for these crafts online.

Fathers day handprint poem

Kids can write a short poem describing their dad around their colorful handprint/footprint and make a memorable father's day poem card. For fathers this will be a great gift to preserve forever to remember how small the kids were back in time and what were their thoughts at that age.

More Fun Kids’ Crafts!

• Our amazing and kids friendly, Easy Flip Flops Crafts Idea
• This creative and easy Kids Activity: Scratch and Sniff Painting