10 Free Fall Handprint Art Crafts for Kids & Toddlers

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Grab our free fall handprint crafts that includes 10 free printables that are great for school parties, keepsakes, and just to celebrate the fall season! 

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These cute fall handprint crafts are a great way to kick off the changing seasons for young children. They love getting their little hands a little messy and it’s the perfect way to get into the spirit this time of year.

If this fun handprint art isn’t enough and you have smaller kids or are a preschool teacher, be sure to grab our Fall Dot Marker Printables and see the 20+ Dot a Dot sheets that make great fall activities for the classroom. It also helps them to work on their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. 

Kids of all ages will love our fall scavenger hunt and the festive fall scattergories for the new season! Don’t forget to download the Thanksgiving handprint crafts as well! These will make another fun addition to the season and so much fun. 

We didn’t include spider handprints, that’s in our Halloween Handprint Craft collection! 

🌟All 10 Fall Handprint Art Designs

Fall Handprint Tree

The one everybody makes first. Technically this one’s fingerprints, not a handprin, kids dab red, orange, yellow, and brown onto the bare branches to build the leaves. It’s great for fine motor practice because each dot takes a little control.

If your child would rather do a full handprint, flip it: press a brown handprint on blank paper with fingers spread as the branches, then add fingerprint leaves on top. Both versions look great framed.

Acorn Handprint Craft

A brown handprint becomes the acorn cap, with the nut printed below it. This is the one that surprises people, because it doesn’t look like a handprint until you point it out.

Pair it with real acorns if you’ve got an oak nearby. Kids love collecting a pocketful, and it turns a ten-minute craft into an afternoon.

Handprint Pumpkin

Orange handprint, green stem, done. This is the most forgiving design on the list, which makes it the right one to start with if your child is under two. A smeared pumpkin still reads as a pumpkin.

Handprint Turkey

The classic. Brown palm, colorful fingers as feathers. We left space for eyes so you can draw them with a black Sharpie or glue on googly eyes, whichever your kid prefers. Googly eyes win every time in our house.

This one doubles as a Thanksgiving craft, so don’t feel like you have to wait until November.

Handprint Deer

Brown handprint becomes the deer’s face and ears. It’s the sweetest one in the set and the one that most often ends up on a fridge into December.

Handprint Squirrel

Gray or brown handprint forms the tail, with the squirrel body printed alongside. Kids who are into animals gravitate toward this one and the deer.

S’mores and Campfire Handprint

Handprints become the flames of the campfire, with s’mores printed above. This is the design for anyone who did a lot of camping this summer and isn’t quite ready to let go of it.

Handprint Apple

Red handprint, green leaf, brown stem. Good for apple-picking season, back-to-school, and teacher gifts, it’s the one we’d hand to a teacher on the first week.

Happy Fall Y’all Handprint Sign

Handprints form the design around the lettering. It’s the most decor-friendly page in the set, so if you want one to actually hang in the entryway, this is it.

Thankful For You Handprint

Made to give away. A handprint plus “thankful for you” is a hard combination to beat for grandparents, and it costs you nothing but paint.

My Little One Handprint Poem

This one includes a keepsake poem alongside space for the handprint and the date. Write the child’s age on it before you file it away, because in four years you will not remember.

🌟What You’ll Need 

Non-toxic paint or ink pad – you’ll also need a paper plate if you are using paint to dip the child’s hand in. You can use different fall colors of acrylic paint if you would like, but we designed these for brown paint, orange paint, green paint, and red.

printable file 

printer 

paper – you can use regular paper, but white cardstock is great for keepsake art because it holds up better. 

Black Sharpie – for the eyes on the turkey. You could also glue on googly eyes instead if you don’t want to draw. 

Note: The digital download art print doesn’t include the actual handprint, that is meant to be completed by the child or student.

✨Fall Handprint Craft Instructions 

Once your have printed file of choice, let the kids choose their favorite color of paint or ink. 

Cover the child’s hand with the ink or dip it into paint. 

Press their hand firmly on the paper without moving it around. 

Let your child’s handprint dry completely before moving it. 

Wash the little hands, and you are all done! 

If you don’t want to do fingerprints on the tree you can make a fall handprint tree instead. 

👶Fall Handprint Crafts for Toddlers and Babies (Tips)

Handprint art with a baby is a completely different sport than handprint art with a five-year-old, and it helps to plan for that.

For babies under one, use an ink pad instead of paint. It’s less mess, it dries almost instantly, and you don’t have to worry about a painted hand going straight into a mouth. Press the page onto their hand rather than their hand onto the page, you get a cleaner print with less wrestling.

For toddlers, paint works fine but keep the session short. One or two designs, not ten. Have a damp washcloth already sitting next to you before you open the paint, because the window between “finished print” and “handprint on the wall” is about four seconds.

The pumpkin, apple, and acorn designs are the most toddler-friendly on our list because they’re single-color and forgiving. Save the turkey and the fall tree for when they’ve got more patience.

One tip that changed things for us: do it in the high chair. They’re contained, the tray wipes down, and you have both hands free.

🍁Fall Handprint Leaf Crafts and Garland Ideas

A handprint with fingers spread already looks like a maple leaf, which makes this the easiest fall decoration you’ll ever make.

To make a handprint leaf garland: print handprints in red, orange, yellow, and brown on cardstock, cut them out, punch a hole in the wrist end of each, and string them on twine. Ten to fifteen leaves fills a standard mantel. If you’ve got more than one kid, alternate hand sizes.

To make a handprint banner: cut each handprint page into a pennant shape and add one letter per pennant to spell FALL, THANKFUL, or HAPPY FALL. Tape to a ribbon and hang across a doorway or above the table.

For a handprint wreath: trace and cut 12 to 16 handprints in fall colors, then glue them overlapping in a circle onto a paper plate with the center cut out. It takes about twenty minutes and it’s the craft most likely to get compliments from people who come over.

Laminate any of these if you want them to survive to next year.

👇How to Download and Print 

After entering your email address, you will receive a download link. 

Download the blank handprint craft to your computer. These are delivered in a US Letter PDF format.

Open and print as many copies as you need or multiple versions. The printable comes in 10 different designs so you can choose one or all of them. 

Common FAQs

We hope you have you have a great start to new season and love these fun fall crafts for kids! Be sure to click around because we have lots of simple crafts, other fun activities that include free printables, and party games! 

✅Grab the Printable Templates for the Fall Handprint Crafts

Simply enter your name and email below and we will send your 10 page PDF file straight to your inbox!