DLTK's Crafts for Kids
Handprint (and Footprint) Dinosaurs

Painting with a paintbrush is so fun but painting with handprints and footprints is even better! So making dinosaurs with handprints and footprints has to be the BEST thing of all!

This adorable craft is especially great because it only takes a few materials and involves a WHOLE BUNCH of creativity. Let kids choose their favourite dino and their favourite dino colour for the project.

This craft is great for an afternoon of fun creating, a cute decoration and keepsake, or as a cute dino card for somebody.

Materials:

• paper,
• printer,
• glue,
• scissors,
• paint,
• paintbrush,
• and something to color with

Instructions:

• Choose a background for your handprint dinosaur:
  • For a dinosaur landscape print out the template and coloring in the background if you chose the B&W version.
  • For a colourful background try a piece of construction paper.
  • For a simpler background try a basic piece of white printer paper.
• Choose your favourite dinosaur to paint. Or choose multiple!

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For a Pterodactyl:

• Use both hands and make two opposite handprints with the fingers squeezed together to create the wings.
• Use one or two thumb prints to create the dino's head.
• Use a paintbrush to fill in the dino's beak and legs.

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For a Stegosaurus:

• Use the hand so that the fingers (painted only half way up) are the dino's spine and the thumb is the dino's neck and head.
• Use a paintbrush to add the tail to the end of the handprint opposite the head.

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For a Brontosaurus:

• Use the hand and make one handprint so the fingers are the dino's legs(I only painted half of my fingers so it looks more like legs) and the thumb is the dino's tail.
• Use a paintbrush or your finger to paint on the long neck and head at the opposite end of the tail.

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For a Tyrannosaurus Rex:

• Use the foot so that the big toe is the dino's tail, the pinky and ring toe are the dino's feet and the heel is the dino's neck.
• Use a paint brush to fill in some of the dino's body, the head, the arms, and the tip of the tail.

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For a Triceratops:

• Use the whole hand and make several handprint so that the palms all line up and the fingers spread out in a semi-circle shape.
• Add some paint at the bottom of the triceratops head to make it's nose.

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EXTRA TIPS:

• If you have to paint extra pieces of the dinosaur or fill in any of the handprints or footprints, try using a slightly different colour/shade of paint to give the dinosaur some texture but keep the footprint or handprint shape.
• Let the dino dry and then draw or paint on a face.
• To give the craft as a gift or card for someone you can write a cute quote to go along with your dinosaur like...
  
  “The best kinds of gifts won't fit under the tree, like love and friendship and dinosaurs!”
  
  “You're DINO-mite!”
  
  “You're ROAR-some!”
  
  “You make my heart SAUR!” (for the pterodactyl)
  
  “I love you this much!” (for the T-Rex)
  

Templates:

• Close the template window after printing to return to this screen.
• Set page margins to zero if you have trouble fitting the template on one page (FILE, PAGE SETUP or FILE, PRINTER SETUP in most browsers).

Template   (color)   or   (B&W)

Print friendly version of these instructions