This holiday season, I’m feeling a bit nostalgic. As I look around at our joyfully decorated home, I cannot help but think “Gosh, the kids are getting sooo big.” I’m sure every parent goes through this realization at some point in time, but I’m surprised at how fast these past few years have gone.
As I watched my son help my husband place the Christmas lights among our bushes in the front yard, I started to get all weepy. When did my baby boy get old enough to handle any sort of electrical gadget? When did I stop stressing out over whether or not he’d electrocute himself by simply looking at a string of lights? When did he become such a little man?
And with all of these thoughts cramming into my weepy head, I happened to glance over to where my daughter sat. She was happily gathering a “reindeer salad” for our fake reindeer family, and I was shocked into silence as I realized that I didn’t have to have my eyeballs glued to her little being every second of the day.
When did she get old enough to sit on the lawn by herself picking grass? When did I decide that I could take my eyeballs off of her for 2.2 seconds? When did I stop having to stuff her inside an oversized tupperware container so she couldn’t crawl away? (Yeah, we did that.)
Now I’m not trying to get all sappy and weepy in front of y’all, I’m just amazed at how quickly time flies, which is why I try very hard to cherish each moment that I have with my lovebugs. So when my dear friend, Katie Hoffman, sent this adorable Kids Craft idea to my in-box, I just knew we had to make some!
This super sweet Keepsake Kid’s Craft helps weepy parents like me capture this very exact moment in time. So grab some paint, and create these happy snowman ornaments to help mark the size of their little hands before they get any bigger on us!
KEEPSAKE KIDS CRAFT: HANDPRINT SNOWMAN ORNAMENTS
Materials:
* Blue ornaments
* White paint
* Paint brushes
* Sharpies
* Empty cardboard egg crate (to hold the ornaments while they dry)
* Your kids 🙂
Directions:
Step 1: Gather all of your materials into one central location. We cleared off the kitchen table and set everything out ahead of time. The kids got all riled up when we painted their hands (this is a GREAT sensory experience for little ones!).
Step 2: Without any paint, ask your child to hold their hand palm up. Then gently place the blue ornament in their hand and ask them to carefully wrap their fingers around the ball. Once they have practiced once or twice, then move on to the real thing. Paint your child’s hand with white paint and have them repeat the practice steps. If their fingers don’t all come out, simply go with it – or if you’re extremely Type A, paint their missing fingers in. 😉
Step 3: Place the ornaments, bottom side up, in the egg crate to dry. When thoroughly dried, sit your kids back down and let them decorate their snowman. Make sure you write your child’s name and the year on the ornament for years to come!
Happy crafting with your kids,
Denine
Thanks Pipi, We like to keep it interesting around here. Plus, we’re getting all sappy that they’re growing up so quickly, so we have to find ways to make it last! Denine
An interesting blog. Great idea, creative work with children 🙂