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this stage of development don't have good gross motor co-ordination yet and can still be wobbly and off-track! In the summer, this a perfect activity for out of doors. The garden or yard is also perfect for walking, or even running, across the paper to make Sticky Footprint Trails! Choose brown and yellow paint shades for a sandy beach effect.

Add a little washing liquid to the paint for easier removal of spills later and squeeze some jazzy bright colors onto different plates. Talk the one-year olds through what you are going to do and demonstrate! Many won't need a second showing! They will just want to dive in. But just check they have understood the need to keep their hand or foot still for a minute and that they should take their time in order to avoid smudges. Make a funny joke out of it and show them a really bad one of yours! Guide their chubby little hands, and hold down for a second or two. Hey Presto - they have made their mark! - a unique little treasure and memento that is uniquely them!

After they have practised a little on the rough paper to get the hang of it, let the one year olds choose their favorite colors and replicate the activity on higher quality card. They will be learning an important artistic principal - that a tool (in case their hands or feet!) can be used to transfer an image-making medium onto a new surface with permanent results. Draw their attention to the 'one-to-one correspondence' principle, keeping it baby-style as in:

"see, one finger print for each one of your fingers."

Talk to the one-year olds about the educational principles of giving the images time to dry. After this, the best highest quality Sticky Hand Print images can be cut out and customised in whatever way the one-year old or his Mommy wants. Some fun Learning Activity ideas would be to attach a little craft calendar and a pretty ribbon for Grandma, or to use red, green or gold glitter to hand-print cards for Christmas time or to add a craft mini-magnet to use Sticky Handprints as Fridge Magnets. All of these thoughtful gifts are permanent reminders of a little hand frozen in time at One Year Old!

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