H is for hippo! Help your toddler learn about the letter H by making a fun hippo handprint craft.

Materials

• Gray and black nontoxic paint
• Blank paper
• Paper plate or scrap cardboard
• Cotton ball
• Cotton swab or paintbrush

Instructions

1. Pour some gray paint onto the cardboard.
2. Use a cotton ball to spread a thin layer of gray paint on your child’s hand.
3. Press the handprint into the center of the paper with the fingers and thumb spread open.
4. Wash the paint off your child’s hand.
5. Use a cotton ball to spread a thin layer of gray  paint on your child’s palm.
6. Press the palm print next to the thumb of the handprint.
7. Wash the paint off your child’s palm.
8. Use a paintbrush to paint a gray tail on the handprint near the pinky.
9. Pour some black paint onto the cardboard.
10. Use a cotton ball to spread a thin layer of black paint on your child’s fingertip.
11. Press two small black fingertip prints onto the palm print near the top. Reapply the paint as needed.
12. Use a cotton ball to spread a thin layer of black paint on your child’s finger.
13. Press a longer fingerprint below the two black fingertip prints.
14. Wash the paint off your child’s finger.
15. Use a paintbrush to paint “H is for hippo” in black on the paper.

Image Credits

Gray and Black Acrylic Paint © 2014 Heather Johnson
One Gray Handprint with Fingers Down © 2014 Heather Johnson
Adding a Gray Palm Print Head © 2014 Heather Johnson
Painting a Gray Hippo Tail © 2014 Heather Johnson
Using Black Fingerprints for the Hippo Face © 2014 Heather Johnson
H Is for Hippo Handprint Craft © 2014 Heather Johnson