Here are two fingerprint heart gifts kids can make! My preschoolers made them as Valentine’s Day gifts for their families this year. I also think they’d work well for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Christmas, etc.
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Two Gifts Kids Can Make Using Their Fingerprints
My end goal was to create a heart fingerprint keepsake with the kids. Once done, these keepsakes could go home as gifts for their parents. We ended up trying it two different ways, with two different materials. One was incredibly simple, while the other took a bit more work and time.
Super simple fingerprint heart magnet
Related: Handmade Father’s Day Gifts from Kids
Materials
Model Magic (we used white, blue, and red because that’s what we already had)
Acrylic paint (the kids chose white, pink, red, and orange)
Magnetic strip “tape”
Precision-tipped Q-Tips (or small paintbrushes)
Directions
Have the kiddo choose which color Model Magic to use. Break off a small piece and roll it into a ball. Have child help press it into a thick circle.
Use the child’s pointer finger to create a “heart” in the Model Magic. I did this by helping the kiddos press their finger into the circle at an angle one way, then again at an angle in the opposite direction. One of my children pointed out, “it kind of looks like a V!” Let the Model Magic dry overnight.
The next day, have the child paint the fingerprint heart. We used cotton swabs with pointed tips to do this.
Hot glue a piece of magnetic tape to the back. Label it with child’s name and year. Once everything’s dry, add it to a child-made gift bag, and it’s ready to go!
My thoughts
I really liked how these turned out. They were colorful, and the kids seemed to enjoy making them!
Baking soda clay fingerprint heart gift
Materials
Baking soda
Cornstarch
Cookie cutters
Small letter stamps
Acrylic paint
Paint brushes
Small circle magnets
Related: The Best Gifts for Preschoolers
Directions
Whip up a batch of baking soda clay (also known as white clay). I used The Imagination Tree’s recipe, as that’s where I first read about it.
Help the child roll or press the clay until you get your desired thickness. Then bring out the cookie cutters and let him/her cut shapes out of the dough. Since we were making Valentine’s Day presents, we used hearts.
Help the child make a fingerprint in the center, using the directions above. Just make sure not to press all the way through the shape!
Using the letter stamps, have the kiddo add ‘I’ above the fingerprint heart, and “you!” below it.
Cook/dry the gifts in the oven, then break out the paint. My preschoolers painted their baking soda clay hearts any way they wanted. You could also have the child paint just the fingerprint heart, too.
Once everything is dry, write the child’s name and the date on the back. Use a hot glue gun to attach a round magnet to the back, too!
Engineer (my son) and I made some together at home, too. We made a few fingerprint hearts, and we also just had fun writing messages in the clay using stamps.
Related: Christmas activities for preschoolers
My thoughts
I loved how these turned out. The baking soda clay is just beautiful! One caveat – this works out so much better if you use the clay right away. There were a lot more cracks on my students’ pieces than on the ones Engineer and I made together. I’m positive it’s because Engineer and I made ours once the clay was done. For my preschoolers, I made the clay in the morning (about 6), but they didn’t get to create with it until center time (about 9). I kept the clay in a wet towel, but I think 3 hours was too long a wait!
Which of these fingerprint heart gifts would your kids most enjoy? Do you have other ideas for gifts kids can make their families and friends? I’d love to hear them!
Preschool Lesson Plans for Valentine’s Day
Save time and get right to the playful learning with our printable lesson plan sets. Each set includes book suggestions, printable plans, over 30 learning activities (both whole group and centers) related to the theme, and corresponding printables.
Grab the Hearts Preschool Lesson Plans and the Valentine’s Day Preschool Lesson Plans
You can also find us on Teachers Pay Teachers
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