I love receiving homemade gifts from my kids. I treasure them because I know it took them time to make it and they are always so proud of their gifts. Since I love homemade gifts, I came up with a project idea my kids can gift to their grandparents. Introducing my handprint calendar! 😍
Thie handprint calendar takes some time to put together, but when you’re done, you have a beautiful treasure you can either keep or gift to a loved one. It’s very inexpensive to make and I guarantee the recipient will LOVE it!
Materials for the Handprint Calendar
- handprint calendar PDF (found in my store here)
- card stock paper
- printer (or send to a print shop)
- binding combs and a binder (or send to a print shop)
- washable paint (my favorite is Crayola washable tempera paint)
Tips for Creating the Handprint Calendar
- Print the pages on card stock paper and double-sided.
- Make sure to use washable paint for the handprint projects.
- Make the handprint projects before binding the page together. Allow them to dry completely before putting together the calendar.
- Don’t do all the projects in one day! Spread them out so you don’t overwhelm your child.
- Have your child sign the cover and add a picture.
- The handprint crafts don’t have to look perfect!
- Use a binding machine to put it together. I used this one. If you don’t have one, you can get it bound at a local print shop. The pages should look like this going in.
This calendar is available in my store. When you purchase it, you’ll receive a PDF version of the calendar as well as a PDF with the instructions for each project. I also have a Canadian calendar available here.
Here are the handprint projects included in this calendar:
January – Mittens
- Paint your child’s hands any color.
- Place the hands upside down on the paper, making sure to press down firmly.
- After the paint has dried, draw an outline of mittens around the hands.
February – Hearts
- Paint your child’s hands red.
- Place the hands on the paper in a heart shape.
(I want to remind you the projects don’t have to look perfect! My little ones were just proud of their work, which was more important than correcting them!)
March – Rainbow
- Paint the following on both hands:
- pinky red
- ring finger yellow
- middle finger green,
- index finger blue
- thumb purple.
2. Place the hands firmly on the paper.
April – Umbrella
- Paint part of your child’s palm and four fingers any color.
- Place the hand upside down on the paper.
- When the paint is dry, draw the outline of an umbrella around the handprint.
- Dip a finger into blue paint and stamp around the paper to make raindrops.
May – Butterfly
- Paint both hands one color.
- Place the hands close to each other and angled.
- Paint the body of the butterfly.
- Draw a face and antennae.
June – Sun
- Paint your child’s hand yellow.
- Stamp the hand in four directions to look like a sun.
July – Flag
- Paint the pinky and some of the palm blue.
- Paint the ring finger to the palm red.
- Paint the middle finger to the palm white.
- Paint the index finger to the palm red.
- Paint the thumb red.
- Add some white dots on the blue part to represent stars.
- Draw a flagpole with a black marker.
August – Sunflower
- Paint the middle of the sunflower brown.
- Paint one finger yellow and stamp it around the brown circle to represent sunflower petals.
- Paint a green stem.
September – Apple
- Paint one hand red.
- Stamp the hand upside down on the paper.
- Add a brown stem and green leaf.
October – Spider
- Paint both hands black.
- Face the hands outward and stamp on the paper.
- Add a face.
- Draw spider webs using a marker.
November – Turkey
- Paint the palm and thumb brown.
- Paint the index finger orange, middle finger red, ring finger green, and the pinky yellow.
- Stamp the hand onto the paper.
- Draw an eye, beak, wattle, and legs.
December – Reindeer
- Paint one finger brown and stamp it eight times on the paper.
- When the paint is dry, draw antlers, eyes, and a nose on each fingerprint. You can make one of them with a red nose for Rudolph!
There you go! All 12 handprint projects for this homemade calendar. I hope you’ll give it a try!
Hello, I just purchased this product to use in my classroom, I will be sending it home as a Mother’s Day gift in May. Will you have 2024 calendars anytime soon so that I can use 2024 for January-May?
Yes! I will have the calendars done in September.
Hey there! I love this! Any chance that you have 2023. I was thinking we could do the handprints each month of 2022 to gift to parents in December for 2023. Thanks!
Hi there! I’m sorry, but I don’t have 2023 ready yet. It is a great idea to get started early. I’ll get the 2023 calendar done as soon as I can!
Fantastic! Thank you so much!
Having same trouble printing as noted in the earlier comment in 2019. Image is cut off and not centered or comes out small in center of page. How do I fix this? Thanks!
I’m so sorry! Have you tried updating Adobe Reader? I can send you the latest PDF to see if that version works better. I did do a few updates, which may help with printing. Please email me at angela(at)teachingmama(dot)org if you’d like that.
Hello I purchased the calendar I was wondering how I receive it lol I love it so much I paid before I read the information lol my email is tinyheartschildcare @yahoo.com
Thank you Jeannette
Hi Jeannette!! Thanks for purchasing. You should’ve received an email with the files. I’ll resend it to you!
Is there a 2022 version available?
Yes! It’s in my store here: https://teachingmama.org/product/handprint-calendar/
I would like to purchase the Canadian version but the link doesn’t seem to be working. Is there a way to find the Canadian calendar? Thanks!
I’m sorry. I no longer have a Canadian version. I apologize for the wrong information on my post. If you’d like to purchase a calendar that can be used for anyone in the northern hemisphere, you can do that here: https://teachingmama.org/product/handprint-calendar-for-northern-hemisphere/
I bought this a few weeks ago and I haven’t received the PDF yet. Did anyone else have their PDF take a long time to get to their email?
Hi Chelsea! I just checked your order and it looks like you typed ‘con’ instead of ‘com’ for your email address. I just fixed it and resent the order!
I loved doing this for my grandson this year 2020. I now have another grandson and would like to complete a 2021 calendar for him. Will I be able to get a 2021 calendar soon.
Yes! The 2021 version is available here: https://teachingmama.org/product/handprint-calendar/
My three year old granddaughter and I made 5(!) calendars as gifts for her to give at Christmas. It was a lot of work, requiring patience and planning, but she was so excited to have her own handmade presents!
Thank you so much for offering this as a freebie before the holidays.
That’s so wonderful to hear! I’m sure it was a lot of work. 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
I love this project! I did it with my class of 20 one year though and it was a nightmare! It would be much better to do at home for a gift to a family member!
This is the best idea Ever especially being on a budget.
I have had a hard time printing, because the image is either cut off, or not centered. Ive already upgraded adobe reader and tried a few other things. All of the print previews show it off center. Any tips?