Canada Day Handprint Flags

Today we did a great Canada Day art activity. There are lots of different ways you can do it, depending on how old your kids are, what supplies you have, and how much mess you want to make. 

I got the idea here: http://puddlesandmud.blogspot.ca/2011/06/more-canada-day-activities-crafts-etc.html?m=1

Supplies: red finger paint, paintbrush, finger paint paper, card stock 

The first thing we did was the handprints. I painted the boys' hands (Peanut did this one, too!!) and then stamped them in the middle of a piece of card stock. 

I chose to do the paint handprint here, but you could also trace their hand on construction paper then glue that on, or you could trace their hand right on the flag and colour it in with red crayon or marker. 

Next, Monkey did some finger painting. 

He only used red and I encouraged him to cover as much of the page as he could. 

Once the boys were in bed and the paint was dry, I finished up the flags.

I measured and cut out the sides of the flag from the finger painting Monkey had done. 

I purposely chose parts of the paper that were more textured and had a little bit of white on them still. I wanted it to be obvious that Monkey had finger painted them and not just painted them with a paintbrush. 

If you're not into finger painting or you're looking for a different option, you could use red construction paper, or colour directly on the card stock with red crayon, marker, or paint. 

Finally, I glued the sides onto the flags. 

I think they look so fantastic! They are one of my favourite art activities I've ever done. 

Happy Canada Day!

Mar