Handprint and Footprint Art: How to Make One with Your Baby

Europe has a toy safety standard that covers finger paints and nothing else: EN 71-7, Safety of toys, Part 7: Finger paints. The introduction to the 2025 edition explains why finger paints need their own rules. They are used with fingers and hands, by young children, so “prolonged skin contact or possible ingestion of paint material cannot be ruled out.”

Handprints and footprints put paint straight onto a baby’s palm or sole. This post covers the steps and the labels worth reading when you choose the paint.

What to prepare

• Paper: thick paper such as drawing paper, with a few spare sheets
• Paint: a product sold for children (more on choosing it below)
• Something to apply it with: a wide brush or a sponge
• Something to work on: newspaper or a plastic sheet
• Towels: one damp, one dry
• A place to wash hands and feet right after

Put out only the paint you need, in a small dish.

Choosing the paint

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) publishes the Art and Craft Safety Guide for anyone using art materials, with a section on children. For children up to 12, it says to “Read the labels and only purchase art and craft materials intended for children,” to look for products clearly labeled with their intended uses, and to avoid old or unlabeled supplies.

The guide also explains US labeling. The CPSC requires labels on art materials that could cause chronic health effects, and a federal law, the Labeling of Hazardous Art Materials Act, made the labeling practice in the standard ASTM D-4236 mandatory. The guide recommends that parents buy only products labeled “Conforms to ASTM D-4236” that carry no cautionary warnings, and it says products with cautionary or warning labels should not be used with children from pre-kindergarten through grade 6.

One line in the guide speaks directly to handprints. Under “Never use materials in unintended ways,” its example is “don’t use standard paint for skin-painting.” It also notes that “even products labeled ‘non-toxic’ when used in an unintended manner can have harmful effects.” For paint that goes on skin, that points to paint made for use with fingers and hands. EN 71-7 sets requirements for those paints, including colourants, preservatives, limits for impurities, taste and smell, pH and containers.

Whichever label is on the package, read the age range and directions before you start.

Making a handprint

1. Spread newspaper on the table or floor and lay the paper on top.
2. Brush or sponge a thin layer of paint onto the baby’s palm.
3. Press the hand onto the paper, or press the paper onto the palm. One adult can hold the baby while another holds the paper.
4. Lift the paper straight off.
5. Wipe the paint off with the towel right away, then wash with soap and water.

A print does not always come out the first time, which is what the spare sheets are for. Make a few and keep the clearest.

Making a footprint

The steps are the same. Apply a thin layer of paint to the sole, press the paper onto the foot and lift it straight off. Afterwards, wipe and wash between the toes as well.

While you work

The CPSC guide lists safety rules for when children use art materials. Among them:

• Store surplus materials away from children.
• Keep food and drinks out of the art area.
• Give only small amounts to minimize spills and mishaps.
• Supervise children closely to prevent unintended uses of art materials.
• Wash hands after using materials, and do not use solvents to clean skin.
• Watch for unusual reactions to chemicals.

The guide adds that “there is no substitute for direct supervision.”

Drying and keeping it

Let the paper dry flat. Once it is dry, write the date and the child’s name on the back or in the margin, so you know later when it was made.

You can photograph the print too. Ways to photograph and sort artwork are in How to Keep and Organize Your Child’s Artwork.

Sources

• EN 71-7:2025, Safety of toys, Part 7: Finger paints, Requirements and test methods
• U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Art and Craft Safety Guide (Pub. No. 5015)

Drawing with Kinder Paint

Kinder Paint is a drawing app for iPhone and iPad, made for children ages 2 to 6 under the supervision of an AMI Montessori teacher.

There are six pens, including Crayon, Pencil and Watercolor Pen, plus shape tools such as circles and squares, a fill bucket and undo. There are no ads and no account, and drawing works offline. Artwork stays on the device and can be saved to Photos, where it can sit in the same album as photos of paper handprints and footprints. The parent settings open only after answering a multiplication question.

The basic drawing features are free, and the free plan saves up to three canvases. The Manga and Dot canvases, the Paint Academy tracing lessons and unlimited canvases come with the paid Kinder Paint Pro. For a first session, see Getting Started with Kinder Paint.