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Home / Early Learning / Hand Prints in Preschool {Beginning of the Year}

Hand Prints in Preschool {Beginning of the Year}

Shared by Mary Catherine Leave a comment

Hand Prints in Preschool {Beginning of the Year}
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I have been making portfolios for my students ever since I began teaching.  It started out as a simple, fun way to illustrate how a child grows over the course of one year . . . both literally and figuratively.  I do a ton of art with hand prints in preschool, many of which are included in the kids’ portfolios!

hand prints in preschool

Table of Contents

    • Hand Print Art Materials
  • Done-for-You Preschool Resources

Hand Print Art Materials

You only need a few items for this project. And, as a preschool teacher, I’d be willing to bet that you have most of them in your supply closet right now! Here’s what you’ll need:

  • Tempera paint
  • Paintbrush
  • White paper
  • Assorted construction paper
  • Scissors
  • Glue
  • Laminator and laminating sheets (optional)

For September, our theme is “Getting to Know You”.  We’re talking and learning about friends, names, school rules, appropriate behavior, body parts, the five senses, likes/dislikes, etc.  In keeping with this theme, I decided the hand print art would simple be the kiddos’ hand prints.  Nothing fancy to it at all!  I gave each child a choice of 5 colors (red, blue, pink, purple, and yellow), painted both of their hands, and had them place their hand prints on white construction paper.

hand prints in preschool

Once everyone’s hand prints had been taken care of, I called the children back for dictations.  Since this is the very beginning of the year, I wanted to go with something simple just to get them into the swing of things.  I asked each child, “what’s something you can do with your hands?”  Many of them answered with just a word or two, so I talked them through it until they had each given me a complete sentence.  I then wrote their sentences on white paper, quickly modeling the writing process.

hand prints in preschool

It was very interesting to hear what each child had to say.  I found it especially intriguing that I was given short answers by all of the children in my class.  Usually, there are 1 or 2 kids who say so much that I end up filling up an entire piece of paper — “Well, I can peel a banana with my hands and clap my hands and squish bugs with my hands and push with my hands!”  This year, the children kept it short and sweet.  We’ll see if that pattern persists throughout the year, although I doubt it will.  🙂

hand prints in preschool

This whole process may seem pretty simple, but it packs a punch. It draws the children in, gives value to what they have to say, encourages language development and correct speech patterns, models the writing process, and provides meaningful materials with which to read.  Additionally, it provides a starting point for our portfolios . . . we’ll be able to compare this month’s writing sample/dictation with May’s writing sample to see the growth!

Once I had everyone’s hand prints and dictations completed, I simply bubble-cut everything and glued them onto coordinating construction paper.  Eventually they’ll be coupled up with first day pictures, laminated, and saved for our Preschool Portfolios.

Done-for-You Preschool Resources

Planning meaningful lessons for students week after week while balancing other teaching responsibilities and your personal life can be a daunting task. That’s where Preschool Teacher 101 comes in to save you time!

Preschool Teacher 101 has created some amazing preschool lesson and activity plans that will be perfect for your classroom. We have resources for a wide variety of themes and topics that will last all year long.

Click on the images below to learn more about some amazing literacy resources. 

move and learn abc journal
Move and Learn ABC Journal
Uppercase Letter Puzzles
Reading Log for the Year

Make sure you stop by and join The Pack from Preschool Teacher 101 for exclusive access to our content. We have three options for membership to meet your needs. 

Filed Under: Early Childhood Classroom, Early Learning, Preschool Arts and Crafts Tagged With: All About Me, Back to School, Hand Prints

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My name is Mary Catherine, and I love to share meaningful {and fun} learning activities for kiddos! Feel free to browse and stay awhile!

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