Toddlers love sticking their fingers into stuff and making a mess, so why not let them at it and make a bit of Easter art out of it? This is how easy it is.

You will need:
Paper
Paint
A small amount of water
At least one child
A waterproof fine point black marker pen

Step 1: Get out some paints (poster paints are good but even those little watercolur sets work too) and a little plastic cup of water. Put an apron or bib on your child to avoid them getting paint on their clothes when they inevitably wipe their hands on what they are wearing.

Step 2: Lay a few sheets of paper on the table. White or pastel colours show up the paint best, I find.

Step 3: Have your child dip their index fingertip into the water then into the paint. If you are using poster paints it is a good idea to put a small amount onto a plate. If you are using watercolours, get the child to rub their wet finger on their chosen colour of paint until it is well coated with colour.

Step 4: Make fingerprints scattered all over the pages, reloading the fingers with fresh paint as needed.

Step 5: Leave the paint to dry. Wash the child’s hands and put away the water and paints.

Step 6:  For chicks – draw eyes, beaks and wings on the fingerprints
For bunnies – draw eyes, nose, mouth, ears and a fluffy tail on the fingerprints

Step 7: Now you can decide what to do with your little works of art. The ideas I like are:
– Hang the pages up as they are

– Cut out the best creatures and make Easter cards

– Cut out some of your favourites and glue them to little paper bags. You can then fill these with chocolate eggs and give them as gifts at Easter. As an alternative, you can do the fingerprints straight onto the bag, as we did here: