Easy Handprint & Footprint Pumpkin Craft for Kids (2025)

Our Little Pumpkin Handprint Art for Babies, Toddlers, and Kids

With two little kids, I am always looking for a fun way to create little keepsakes. I love having their tiny handprints and footprints in a place I can look at them year after year. They are a sweet reminder of just how small my babies are right now. I know as they grow, I will be even happier that I took the time to do this fall craft with them.

These handprint and footprint pumpkins are something I will use as decoration each year on a special occasion like Halloween or simply decorating for the fall. They are a great way to remember how small your babies were once upon a time.

Using their handprints or footprints in a creative way to make pumpkins is something we all had so much fun doing together. This is one of the best easy handprint crafts that you can do with babies and kids because all you need to do is print the free template, then add handprints.

This craft allows toddlers and kids to practice and refine fine motor skills. As they press their hand onto the paper and spread their fingers apart, they practice muscle control. Fine motor skills are important because they help toddlers become independent in dressing, eating, and brushing their teeth. They also allow kids to hold a pencil to write, cut, turn pages in a book, and much more. We have to take any opportunity that we can to help kids practice their fine motor skills. Making handprint art pumpkins is a creative way to do so.

I chose to use tempera paint as it is water-based, non-toxic, and safe for kids. It’s super easy to wash off their skin and any surfaces it might get on. My boys got paint all over their skin, and it came right off with no scrubbing. This was really helpful with my 4-month-old, who got it absolutely everywhere and tried to eat it.

Both of my sons had so much fun with the paint, it was nice that I didn’t have to worry about it being harmful or making a permanent mess. When it comes to handprint and footprint crafts involving paint and little boys, you never know where the paint will end up. Baby wipes work well to wipe up the mess and let the little artist go to work, worry free.

This craft uses simple supplies you probably already have at home, and if not, the supplies are pretty cost-friendly and are items you will use again in future crafts.

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Supplies

• Orange tempera paint (or different colored paints, as desired)
• Large watercolor paint brush or sponge
• Paper plate
• Free Our Little Pumpkin printable
• Cardstock paper

Directions

1. Enter your email in any of the “Do the Craft Today!” boxes to receive the free printable template. Print the Our Little Pumpkin free template on cardstock paper in color. The thicker paper is much better for the paint than normal printer paper. The cardstock won’t let the paint go through and it dries quickly. Cut along the dotted lines to create an 8inx10in paper. This will fit in a frame perfectly.
2. Shake the paint well and put a generous amount on a paper plate.

3. Use the brush to paint the palm of your child’s hand. Make sure you paint all the parts of the fingers and the entire palm. Little hands can be tricky, I like to use a thick layer of paint so it doesn’t take much effort to get it onto the paper. The better job you do painting the hand, the better the child’s handprint will turn out.

4. Open your child’s hand and press it onto the paper right below the stem of the pumpkin. The hand will be the pumpkin. Hold the hand still so the paint doesn’t smear (this is easier said than done). Even if it does smear a little bit, it still makes for a cute pumpkin craft.

5. Lift the hand straight up and off the paper quickly.

6. Let the paper dry overnight.

7. Frame your adorable pumpkin handprint art!

Helpful Tips

*If you want to do an orange footprint instead of a handprint, just follow the same steps as above, except use your child’s foot instead.

*Once you put the paint on your child’s hand or foot, it’s a good idea to move quickly to the paper before they can make a fist and squish the paint. When they do this, it makes the paint uneven on their hand, and it doesn’t transfer to the paper as well.

*Open the hand completely before pressing it into the paper. If you move it once it’s on the paper, it will smear.

*Turn the paper upside down so it’s easier to get the hand in the right position

*Put the child in a high chair; this helps if you are doing the craft without another adult to help. This is a great way to make sure they can’t move too much while you are pressing their handprints.

*You could use an ink pad with orange ink if paint isn’t your thing. Just press the hand onto the ink pad to get perfect hand prints everytime.

*Print multiple copies in case you have a hard time getting a good handprint the first time around.

Final Thoughts

This adorable handprint and footprint craft for the fall is a great way to make something you’ll treasure forever. No matter how yours turns out, keep it. If it’s a big mess, you can look back and laugh at the time you tried to paint your baby’s hands and feet. If you come to realize that you have found your true calling as a kids’ handprint art expert because your craft turned out just that good, that’s amazing too.

I hope you had a lot of fun with your kids and used this to create a fun craft together. But most of all, I hope you used this craft to love one another through quality time spent together.

Fun crafts using simple materials are a fantastic way to spend time with little kids and toddlers because they not only love to make things, but they also love to spend time with you. At the end of the day, you will have works of art to be proud of.

Good luck! I can’t wait to hear how the craft goes for you! Let me know in the comments.

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