G Is for Giraffe Handprint Craft

When my oldest child was a toddler, I was obsessed with making handprint crafts with her. We made crafts using paint and her handprints for every holiday. We also made at least one handprint craft for every letter of the alphabet.

G is for giraffe! Help your toddler or preschooler learn about the letter G by making a fun giraffe handprint craft. All you need is some nontoxic paint, some paper, and a willingness to get a little messy along the way!

Fun fact: Although giraffes have long necks, their necks are too short to reach the ground without bending their knees to get down lower. Giraffes are also the tallest mammals in the world! The average male giraffe grows between 16 and 19 feet tall while the average female giraffe towers between 14 and 17 feet tall.

Materials

• Gold, brown, and orange nontoxic paint
• Blank paper
• Paper plate or scrap cardboard
• Cotton ball
• Cotton swab or paintbrush

Instructions

1. Pour some gold paint onto the cardboard.
2. Use a cotton ball to spread a thin layer of gold paint on your child’s hand.
3. Press the handprint with the fingers open and pointing down onto the paper.
4. Wash the paint off your child’s hand.
5. Use a cotton ball to spread a thin layer of gold paint on your child’s finger.
6. Press two gold fingerprints extending from the palm above the pinky finger. Reapply the paint as needed.
7. Wash the paint off your child’s finger.
8. Use a cotton ball to spread a thin layer of gold paint on your child’s fingertip.
9. Press one gold fingertip print extending from the second gold fingerprint.
10. Wash the paint off your child’s fingertip.
11. Pour some brown paint onto the cardboard.
12. Use a cotton ball to spread a thin layer of brown paint on your child’s fingertip.
13. Press brown fingertip prints onto the gold palm and first fingerprint. Reapply the paint as needed.
14. Wash the paint off your child’s fingertip.
15. Pour some orange paint onto the cardboard.
16. Use a cotton ball to spread a thin layer of orange paint on your child’s fingertip.
17. Press an orange fingertip print onto the end of each finger of the gold handprint. Reapply the paint as needed.
18. Wash the paint off your child’s fingertip.
19. Use a paintbrush to paint one orange eye in the center of the gold fingertip print.
20. Use a paintbrush to paint “G is for giraffe” in orange on the paper.

 

 

 

 

This post was originally published on January 12, 2015 and updated on March 5, 2023.

Image Credits

G Is for Giraffe Handprint Craft © 2014 Heather Johnson
Gold, Orange, and Brown Acrylic Paint © 2014 Heather Johnson
One Gold Handprint with Fingers Open © 2014 Heather Johnson
Adding One Gold Fingerprint © 2014 Heather Johnson
Adding a Second Gold Fingerprint © 2014 Heather Johnson
Adding One Gold Fingertip Print © 2014 Heather Johnson
Adding Brown Fingertip Prints © 2014 Heather Johnson
Adding Five Orange Fingertip Prints © 2014 Heather Johnson
Painting an Orange Giraffe Eye © 2014 Heather Johnson
G Is for Giraffe Handprint Craft © 2014 Heather Johnson