Even the simplest ideas can make lots of fun art projects for young children. Doodle and Draw, Spots, Stripes and Squiggles from Parragon books has 128 pages full of these simple ideas and prompts which can be filled in within the book or used as inspiration for more artworks of your own so that the creativity can continue even when the book is full.
R and I used one of the pages of the book as a prompt to make these handprint pattern pictures.
This is just one of the many ideas within the book. We used a page which prompts children to draw around their hands many times to fill the space and make a pattern, so we thought it would be fun to experiment with making handprint patterns from coloured paper after completing the page.
It takes precision and care to draw around a hand neatly, but my boys have always been keen to try their best with this. They also love looking at the results when I draw around their hands for them.
Here’s our filled page within the Doodle and Draw, Spots, Stripes and Squiggles book:
And continuing our pattern making with coloured paper handprints. It’s fun to see how the handprints can fit into the spaces, and interlock with one another. Cutting out the handprints is all good fine motor practice too.
When you’re happy with your design, glue them down.
You can try different ideas, like ordering by size or comparing the hands of different members of the family
To make a keep sake picture we set out each pair of hands in an interlocking design and stuck them down with multi coloured borders. Very simple, but a fun way to capture the children’s hand size at each age and a quick craft for young children to manage without difficulty.
This design would also make a nice card since the interlocking hand pattern looks like holding hands, a sign of friendship.
See Doodle and Draw, Spots, Stripes and Squiggles on Amazon (UK / US)
We would definitely recommend it for lots and lots of simple creative ideas for young children. The great thing about this book is that it is so accessible for young toddlers. We have some fantastic drawing prompt books which are quite detailed and so not as suitable for R but this is perfect for him, and would suit an even younger child too. Many toddlers from about 18 months to two years + would be able to make good use of this book, and for me this is one that is pretty fun to join in and do together with your child. When my eldest was a toddler we used to do books like this together while his younger brother was napping and we always enjoyed these times.
It’s also a really fun and non pressure way to start developing all those pre writing skills. Doodling and drawing different types of lines are the first step on the way to drawing letters numbers and detailed pictures later on! With this book, your child is prompted to add a few lines here or a pattern there, to complete pictures and add detail. This is a great way for young children to start making the connection that their marks can have meaning, rather than just random scribble – which is another important mile stone on the way to learning to draw with purpose, to form letters and write.
You might also like these
Handprint Art Ideas
- Handprint Flower Pot Craft for Mothers Day
- Bubble Wrap Handprint Tree
- Creative Hand Art
- Homemade Handprint Wrapping Paper
Help Develop Pre Writing Skills
- Fun With Working on Pre-Writing Skills
- Fun Ways to Work on Handwriting Skills
- Writing Practice Sensory Bag
Doodle and Draw, Spots, Stripes and Squiggles was provided for review by Parragon books. Affiliate links are included within this post.
Anna Marikar, mum of four and seasoned blogger, has spent over a decade sharing her parenting journey and passion for kid-friendly crafts and free printables.
Her easy-to-follow craft ideas and practical parenting advice have transformed In The Playroom into a cherished resource for parents.
There are so many fun activities that you can make by drawing around hands and feet. I love the look of this book 🙂
my toddler has just gained a fascination of drawing round hands, thank you for sharing these ideas with #readwithme, shall have to keep an eye out for that book!!