Plaster Hand and Footprints

Materials

• Patch plaster or plaster of Paris
• 1 1/4 cups water
• Tin can
• Mixing spoon
• Paper plates
• Picture hook (optional)

Directions

1. To make the plaster mix, stir two cups of patch plaster or plaster of Paris and one and a quarter cups water in a tin can.
2. The mixture should be as thick as pea soup so it can cast without air bubbles.
3. Plaster of Paris dries in about ten to twenty minutes, while patch plaster takes twenty to forty minutes to dry.
4. To make a cast of your child's hand or footprint, pour one inch of plaster mix into a paper plate.
5. Wait two minutes for plaster of Paris, six minutes for patch plaster.
6. Have your child press her hand or foot gently into the plaster.
7. The imprint should not go to the bottom of the plate.
8. Hold for one to two minutes and remove.
9. Let the imprint sit overnight, then peel the plate from the print.
10. If you like, glue a picture hook to the back and hang the print on your child's wall.

More on: Activities for Preschoolers

Excerpted from:

Copyright © 1998 by Patricia Kuffner. Excerpted from The Preschooler's Busy Book with permission of its publisher, Meadowbrook Press.

To order this book visit Meadowbrook Press.