Hand Calendar

A Fun and Personalized Representation of the Year

© Kelley Huston

Sep 28, 2009

Kids love making presents for the people they love and personalized presents are the best. Using a few simple craft materials, young children can make a keepsake calendar for someone special. Children as young as toddlers can make this calendar with assistance from an adult.

Materials for making all of the calendar pages are: tempura paint, construction paper, month calendars printed from software or the Internet, and glue. A pencil or crayon is used for personalization.

Front Cover

Materials:

• Picture of child creating the calendar
• Tempura paint
• Copy of the following poem (author unknown): Children have a certain way/Of growing bigger every day,/But these little hands/And this special smile/Will stay in our hearts/A long, long, while.
• Plain piece of white construction paper or card stock

Procedure

1. Print the poem on a smaller piece of paper.
2. Lay the plain paper landscape, and glue poem to center top.
3. Glue picture under the poem, centered .
4. Dip child's hands in paint and place on either side of the picture.

January–Noise Maker or Icicles

Materials

• Construction paper
• the back of the cover page

Procedure

For the icicles,

1. Trace both sets of fingers of the child on light blue construction paper.
2. Trace one set of fingers on light blue construction paper again.
3. Cut out the fingers.
4. Glue to the top of the back of the cover.
5. Have the child write January Icicles under the icy fingers.

For the noisemaker,

1. Trace the child's fingers on multi colors of construction paper
2. Draw a cone shape on another piece of paper.
3. Cut out the cone and the fingers.
4. Glue the fingers and the cone to the paper with the cone covering the ends of the fingers.

February–Abe Lincoln

Materials

• January calendar printed on plain white paper
• Black and peach construction paper

Procedure

1. Trace the child's hand (no thumb) on black construction paper.
2. Trace a stove top hat on black and a small circle on peach.
3. Cut out all shapes.
4. Glue the hand with the fingers pointing downwards on the center of the back of the January page.
5. Glue the hat to the top and the circle to the center of the palm.
6. Draw a face on the circle and write February Abraham Lincoln or just Honest Abe.

March–Leprechaun or Robin

Materials

• Construction Paper
• Crayons
• February calendar printed on plain white paper

Procedure

For the Leprechaun

1. Trace the child's hand on flesh colored construction paper.
2. Cut out hand and color upper palm and thumb green for the hat.
3. Draw a face on the lower palm
4. Glue to the center of the back of the February calendar.
5. Glue a green pompom (if desired) to the end of the thumb.
6. Write Lucky Leprechaun.

For the Robin

1. Trace the child's hand on brown construction paper.
2. Cut out and lay with thumb pointing up.
3. Color the lower palm red for the stomach.
4. Draw a wing above the stomach.
5. Glue to the center of the back of the February calendar.
6. Add details such as a face, feet, and grass or a tree branch with crayons.
7. Write March Robin.

April–Rain Clouds

Materials

• Black construction paper
• Blue crayone
• March calendar printed on plain white paper

Procedure

1. Trace child's hands with fingers not spread on black construction paper.
2. Cut out hands.
3. Glue to the middle of the back of the March calendar towards the right and one towards the left.
4. Draw raindrops falling from the cloud with the blue crayon.
5. Above the clouds write April Rain Clouds.

A great start on making a complete calendar featuring a child's hands has been achieved. May through August for the calendar can be found at the article titled Hand Print Calendar. September through December are at the article titled Personalized Hand Calendar.

Front cover

January Noise Maker

February Abe Lincoln

March Robin

April Rain Clouds

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