Currently, my son is 6 months old. And while I am looking forward to the days when we will craft together for real, at the moment, his skills are limited. Lol.
That was the inspiration behind creating this list of baby footprint art project ideas, as these are little projects you can do with your littlest friends. Infant footprints are so tiny and cute—it’s fun to add them to projects you can then use as gifts, keepsakes, or just have for a season up on the refrigerator.
The general idea is to use your kiddo’s footprint as part of a larger project. You could absolutely adapt many of these ideas for handprints, too. But, currently my son is quick to put his hands in his mouth any chance he gets, so having a painted hand (even for a few seconds) isn’t something I’m ready to brave with him yet.
You will want to work on a surface you can easily clean (for us, this is usually his changing table). You should also have wipes at the ready! My little guy is already a strong kicker! So, unless you want paint everywhere, make sure you have all your supplies (including cleaning supplies) ready to go before you brush on the paint.
Once you have everything ready, use a paint brush to lightly coat your little one’s foot. Stamp to the surface. Set the print aside and wipe off their foot (or make multiples).
What to do when the footprint smears?
Roll with it! I love the personality it displays. My little guy is on the move, so it’s great if his “art” reflects that at this stage too. As my former art teacher mom would point out, there are no mistakes, only happy accidents that can become part of the final piece.
My point is, don’t be too precious about it. This is meant to be a fun activity for you and your little one. Have fun!
What supplies work, and don’t work?
I like to use acrylic paint. You can use a washable paint, but I honestly just use my own acrylic paints I have for painting—I don’t buy something special just for our footprint projects.
But, obviously if something is labeled permanent, I would avoid that (like a permanent marker or something along those lines).
I don’t feel fabric works as well (see the example above with felt). I like to use paper, cardstock, cardboard, or wood for our baby footprint art projects.
Christmas Ideas
Use raw wood photo ornaments to add a footprint to and then add a current photo. These are great keepsakes, and they also make great gifts for family. We made these for Oscar’s grandmas this year and they loved them.
You can print a white, cream, or light grey footprint onto paper and add a Santa hat and face for a Santa beard look. These can be added to candy for stocking stuffers, or on top of gifts like a gift tag.
Halloween Ideas
I bought this raw wooden ghost (randomly at a thrift store, but they sell these kinds of things at any craft store as well) and added white footprints all over. We hung this on our front door for spooky season, and plan to hang it each year.
You can also create ghost figures from baby footprints. These are great for cards, refrigerator art, or candy bag decor.
Valentine’s Ideas
Use two footprints to create a heart. This can be added to a card or a gift.
You can also do silly puns, like “I love you to the moon” and use your little’s footprints to create a moon shape on the front of card.
For Mother’s Day or Grandparents’ Day presents, make a flower to add to gift wrapping.
Ideas for spring include any kind of insect that has wings. Here’s a cute little bee they sent home from daycare one day. 🙂
Here’s the same idea but with a butterfly. You could add these little bugs to flowers, a card, or gift wrapping.
And an idea for Easter is creating a carrot, which you could add to all sorts of things like candy bags or just a candy bar.
There are SO many ways you can use baby footprints in art projects. Feel free to share ideas you’ve created in the comments! xo. Emma