Holiday Gift Idea: Pre-K Hand Print Calendar (Plus, Tips for Desensitizing Students with Special Needs to Finger Painting)

My last post on creative Christmas gift ideas was received so well, I thought I would follow up with one more homemade Christmas gift idea.  The idea is not new at all but our students' parents loved it as an end of the year gift last year. It would also be a great Christmas gift idea for your students' parents or your own children's gift to grandparents, aunts, and uncles.


A special thank you to Jessica Normandin and Good Beginnings Daycare for inspiring the idea as well as numerous internet and Pinterest finds along the way!

So without further ado, I give you the Buddy Bear's version of a Hand Print Calendar.

The Cover

January: A Beautiful Snowflake

February: A Handprint Valentine

March: A Silly Leprechaun

April: A Funny Bunny

May: A Pretty Tulip 

June: A Fun Fish

July: A Patriotic Flag

August:  Cool Crayons for Back-to-School

September: A Delicious Apple

 (Note: This was a prototype my boys made as a sample. The students' middle finger

was not painted all the way to the tip so the stem was shorter on the actual gifts.)

October: A Black Spider 

(Inspired by: Conscious Discipline's

 I Love You Rituals:  Little Miss Muffet

November: A Colorful Turkey

December: A Slender Santa 

(Note: Again, this was a prototype on the real ones 

we painted the tip of the thumb peach to make a flesh colored face.) 

There you have it "The Buddy Bear Hand Print Calendar!"  You might ask how did we ever get this twelve month calendar accomplished with our little special needs Buddy Bears. Well, it was not without the loving patience and creativity of Miss Karlie, one of our master art table paras.  Each day the kids painted one page of the their calendar and then had a turn with the art choices of the day.  (For more info on art center, visit this previous post.)  

You might also ask how we accomplished this task with sensory sensitive kiddos.  There are always a few students in a special education classroom that resist getting their hands dirty and/or hate to paint! We are always honest with the kids and tell them what we are doing. We show them a sample of the page we are going to paint and the plate of paint. 

Then if they are up for it, we paint their hand.  Here is a video clip of just that. Given it is with my son, who is not sensitive to paint, but you get the idea that we keep it fun, and make it quick with all of our materials ready and a washcloth to clean up ASAP!

For kids who aren't quite ready for this quick fun painting, we take baby steps.  For some, we desensitize them by tracing their hand and just helping them color the hand print.  (Note: In our experience coloring with crayons is less invasive to students that are resistive to painting as marker has the potential to get on their hands. However, we will use whatever the child is interested in.)

For others, we trace their hand and help them paint the inside of the hand with a paint brush. . . getting them a little closer to painting their hand.   

For others, we paint a cut out of a hand print on a sponge and simply have them push the sponge down on the paper...getting them even closer to painting their own hand.  (TIP: if you do this method remember it is a mirrored image so plan accordingly unlike me who has a backward image.)  

Although painting is not a necessity for kids, it is something that they encounter on occasion so we try our best to desensitize them to the experience in a non-threatening way.  By experiencing 12 hand print paintings in a row, some of our students did make a little progress with painting.  One would go to the table without protest to watch her peers paint another painted most of the pages with her actual hand!! Remember it's baby steps! :)

You might ask what is the point?  If they hate it, why make them do it? Well, my thought is that it is something kids will experience in preschool and early elementary years so exposure in a friendly structured environment can be helpful and these little paintings mean the world to parents who know that their little one's hands will not be little forever.

Click here if you would like to use our monthly poems and sayings.  

Best wishes with your little painters!!   

-Lindy    

Last Minute Christmas Gift Ideas for Teachers, Daycare Providers, & Friends

A while back I had the opportunity to meet two amazing moms, Holly Homer and Rachel Miller.

They are the authors of 101 Kids Activities That Are the Bestest, Funnest Ever!: The Entertainment Solution for Parents, Relatives & Babysitters!

My boys and I have just barely scratched the surface of all the activities in this book but we love what we have done so far! And it got me thinking...the best part of these activities is that they give us a chance to slow down and do things as a family.  

Lately, I have been struggling to be there for them both physically and emotionally.  I get caught up in the daily responsibilities of working, blogging, housekeeping, cooking. (Well... to be honest that last one is not my strong suit!)  Anyway, I tend to overcompensate for my physical and emotional absence by buying the boys things or taking them places when in reality all they want is to be with me.

In speaking with other educators throughout my career, I think most of us struggle with "mommy guilt" from time to time. It's part of our teaching nature to try to be enough for every child in our lives, both our kids and our students. 

Holly & Rachel’s book has given us the opportunity to do simple, fun, memorable activities together. As a result of them giving me a copy of their book, I thought I would pay it forward by giving another copy of the book to someone else. 

My son’s first grade teacher also has two small boys.  As part of her Christmas gift, I created this gift basket along with Rachel & Holly’s book.

Inside the book, I attached this special note:

I also shared this concept with our youngest son's daycare provider.  She doesn’t have any little ones herself but she does have many little daycare buddies that love doing little projects so I pulled together all sorts of seasonal crafts (with a little help from Hobby Lobby.)

And placed them in a santa gift bag with this special note.

We took the gift to daycare on the 1^st of December so the kids would have the whole month to make their creations. Then at the end of the month, they can be sent home in a gift bag from my little Payton!

So fun and purposeful! Not just a trinket or two from the dollar store, but special decorations and memories from daycare. :)

Finally, one final special gift that will be given to friends and family this holiday.  Just a little something to remind everyone what really counts throughout the season...a wrapped box of chocolates! 

With a note on the outside that says ‘Wishing you Many Memories with Friends and Family this Holiday Season! From: The McDaniels' ".

And a photo of my boys glued to the wrapping of the chocolates that says "The best present you can give is the gift of presence."

I wish you all many holiday memories full of presence and love!

Merry Christmas, 

Lindy