Handprint cardinal kids craft

With all our bird studies, I thought this handprint craft would be a fun project that both girls could do together. (Ages 2 and 6). Turned out to be just the right mix of paint, feathers, and fun for both kids.

I saw this idea on pinterest and traced it to this facebook page: Playful Garden Child Care. Looks like this page has a ton of fun ideas for crafting with kids.

We used wood grain contact paper for the tree and branches. I cut them out and let the kids build a tree. Then they pressed their little hands into some red paint and made the bird bodies.

We changed it up a little by adding red feathers on top and googly eyes.

After phase one was dry, I let them paint the snow.

For whatever reason, I always find that my kids LOVE handprint crafts. It turns out you can make absolutely ANY animal with either a handprint or footprint. I don't know how it is possible, but somehow it is. 

So, if cardinals aren't your thing, you can make any other bird using different paint colors and techniques. I have pinned a few other fun ones like peacock, flamingo, robin, and duck onto my for the birds pinboard--if you want some more inspiration. 

Also, I should mention that cardinals are very easy to entice into your yard during the winter. We bought some bird seed last week and since then have had a ton of birds in our yard--mostly cardinals. The girls have been loving seeing them flying around and eating the seeds. 

Our next task is to get the finches to come over. But we need a different feeder and smaller seeds. So maybe soon, I'll be writing up a handprint finch post. :) 

Hope you have a delightful weekend!

You can read about other bird books and activities we love here. I also have a "for the birds" pinterest board here.