Chocolate Handprint Reindeer, Round 2

I am a lucky auntie who gets to spend a lot of time with her 5 nieces and nephews who live in the area.  This year as we were setting up the Christmas tree, one of them asked to make chocolate pudding handprint ornaments again.  This worked for me as we always create a Christmas present for all of the family members from the kids.  This is the story of how we made them.  To see how to turn this project into a library program, check out last year's post.

Supplies Needed

•  6-inch circles cut out of white cardstock (If you are dealing with kids over 5, you will want 7 or 8-inch circles).
• 1 large box of chocolate pudding (follow the directions on the box to make it)
• 1 disposable foil pan to pour the pudding into.  You will want it at least as wide as the largest hand.
• red paper for reindeer noses
• white paper to make reindeer eyes
• 1-inch hole punch to make the noses and eyes (You can also freehand cut them out.)
• access to a laminator

How to Make Your Ornaments 
1.  Dip a child's hand in the chocolate pudding.  Have them place their hand on the cardstock circle to make a handprint.  You will need to redip the hand after 2-3 prints.  Let the handprints dry for at least 24 hours.  While they are drying, I write each child's name and the year somewhere on the ornament.

2.   Punch noses and eyes out of paper.  I color in the eyeball with black marker, but have used blue or green crayons in the past.  Glue the eyes and noses onto the ornaments.

(*My four year old niece had a great time with this.  We also were able to talk about how different directions of the eyeballs show different feelings as she wanted to make them all crazy.)

As you can see, this reindeer is looking up.

3.  Laminate your ornaments to preserve them for the future.  I use our local ISD as they offer cheap and quality lamination.  Cut out your ornaments, punch a hole in top, and string them with ribbon.

We then have the kids sort the ornaments so each adult (or couple) gets a full set.  They wrap the ornaments and pass them out on Christmas.  While the wrapping doesn't look professional, there is a warm fuzzy feeling about getting a present wrapped by a 3 year old.

This is our final product on my Christmas tree.  I have five brand new handprint ornaments!