Q Is for Quail Handprint Craft

Although I have less time for crafting now that I have four children, the youngest of whom just turned one, I used to make crafts all the time with my oldest when she was a toddler. One project that I did with her was making handprint crafts for every letter of the alphabet.

Q is for quail! The letter Q is one of the least common letters in written English. Help your toddler or preschooler learn about the letter Q by making a fun quail handprint craft.

Quails are small, ground-dwelling birds with a distinctive feather pattern and teardrop-shaped plumes on their heads. The birds have a distinctive pattern of feathers, with a mixture of browns, grays, and whites. One interesting fact about quails is that the birds are excellent parents. The male and female quail will take turns incubating the eggs, which hatch after about three weeks. Once the chicks hatch, both parents will care for them, teaching them to forage for food and protecting them from predators.

Materials

• Gray, orange, black, and blue 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 onto the center of the paper with the fingers together and pointing to the side.
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 above and to the side of the thumbprint of the first handprint.
7. Wash the paint off your child’s palm.
8. Pour some orange paint onto the cardboard.
9. Use a cotton ball to spread a thin layer of orange paint on your child’s finger.
10. Press an orange fingerprint to the side of the gray palm print.
11. Wash the paint off your child’s finger.
12. Pour some black paint onto the cardboard.
13. Use a cotton ball to spread a thin layer of black paint on your child’s finger.
14. Press a black fingerprint above the gray palm print.
15. Wash the paint off your child’s finger.
16. Use a paintbrush to attach the quail plume to the quail head and to paint on two quail legs.
17. Pour some blue paint onto the cardboard.
18. Use a cotton ball to spread a thin layer of blue paint on your child’s finger.
19. Press a blue fingerprint in the center of the spot at which the handprint and palm print meet.
20. Wash the paint off your child’s finger.
21. Use a paintbrush to paint a blue eye in the center of the gray palm print.
22. Use a paintbrush to paint “Q is for quail” in blue on the paper.

 

 

 

 

This post was originally published on August 10, 2014 and updated on March 17, 2023.

Image Credits

Q Is for Quail Handprint Craft © 2014 Heather Johnson
Gray, Orange, Black, and Blue Acrylic Paint © 2014 Heather Johnson
One Gray Handprint © 2014 Heather Johnson
Adding a Gray Palm Print © 2014 Heather Johnson
Adding an Orange Fingerprint © 2014 Heather Johnson
Adding a Black Fingerprint © 2014 Heather Johnson
Painting the Quail Plume and Legs © 2014 Heather Johnson
Adding a Blue Fingerprint © 2014 Heather Johnson
Q Is for Quail Handprint Craft © 2014 Heather Johnson