I’ve got three handprint bunnies sitting on my kitchen counter right now, and they’re making me unreasonably happy. There’s just something about that slightly wonky tracing line, the little gaps where the crayon slipped, a pom pom nose that’s slightly off center. It feels like childhood in paper form, and it’s exactly the kind of Easter craft I want to make with a small child who doesn’t want to sit still.
Handprint bunnies are a classic construction paper craft for a reason. You trace, you cut, you glue a few bits on the front. That’s it. No templates to download, no fiddly pipe cleaner glasses, no twenty-step instructions that make you question your life choices. If you can draw around a kid’s hand, you can make these.
Why this project works for toddlers and big kids alike
Look, I’ve tried fancier Easter crafts. I’ve cut out felt carrots, hot glued fabric scraps into nests, attempted a paper mache egg that ended up in the bin by dinner. Those projects have their place, but not when you’re working with a three year old who still thinks scissors are a kind of drumstick.
What I love about this specific craft is how forgiving it is. The hand shape can be a little messy, the face can be lopsided, the googly eyes can stare in completely different directions, and somehow the bunny still ends up adorable. It also helps kids practice a few useful skills without it feeling like practice. Tracing, cutting, gluing, all those fine motor basics, but turned into something they actually want to do.
And honestly, the result is a genuine little keepsake. When your kid is fourteen, you can pull out that slightly misshapen paper bunny and remember the year their fingers were this small. That’s a pretty strong payoff for a fifteen minute project.
Grab these simple supplies first
You probably already own most of what you need, which is the whole point. Before you start, make sure you have:
- Construction paper in white, cream, or any pastel color you like (pink and light blue work surprisingly well)
- A pencil or crayon for tracing
- Good scissors that actually cut paper cleanly, not the dull ones from the kitchen drawer
- Googly eyes, two per bunny
- One or two pom poms. A small one for the nose, a bigger fluffy one for the tail
- Glue stick or school glue
- A marker for drawing the mouth and whiskers
That’s it. No glue gun, no glitter, no tiny plastic bunnies you’ll step on later. If you want to get fancy, you can add a paper bow or a tiny cotton ball nose, but you genuinely don’t need to.
How to trace a handprint bunny shape (step by step)
Here’s where people get confused, so let me be clear about the hand position. You don’t trace a whole flat hand with all five fingers spread out. That gives you a turkey, not a bunny. Instead, have your child make a peace sign, then fold the ring finger and pinky down toward the palm. Leave the thumb out, away from the folded fingers. The index and middle finger point up, making the two ears.
Give that a moment to feel natural because it’s a little weird at first. When they’re ready, gently place their hand on the paper and trace around the whole outside shape. You’ll get an outline that looks like two tall ears on top, a roundish palm below, and a thumb sticking out to the side. That thumb becomes the bunny’s cheek, which is a lovely detail.
If your kid has trouble holding that position, don’t force it. You can trace their hand while they hold the peace sign and you just tuck their other fingers down for them. It takes two attempts most of the time, but that’s normal. The first tracing might look more like a weird duck. That’s fine. Just redraw it.
Once you have your outline, cut it out. You don’t need to be precise here. In fact, the slightly imperfect cuts make the bunny look more, well, handprint like. Leave a little extra paper around the folded fingers so the head doesn’t look too pointy.
How to make the bunny face and add that pom pom tail
Now you have a hand shape that, if you squint, resembles a bunny. The palm is the face. The two raised fingers are the ears. The thumb is you guess it, the cheek. Turn it so the palm is facing you and the ears are pointing upward.
Glue on the googly eyes somewhere around the middle of the palm. I say somewhere because there’s no exact spot. Too close together looks goofy, too far apart looks surprised, but neither is wrong. My own bunny has one eye slightly higher than the other, and honestly it has personality.
For the nose, glue a small pom pom right at the bottom center of the palm, above the folded fingers. Then use a marker to draw a little mouth below it. I usually do a tiny curved line, like a lowercase w, or an upside down Y. Add three whiskers on each side, and that face is complete.
The tail is the sneaky secret of this craft. Flip the bunny over and glue a larger pom pom onto the back, in the spot that roughly aligns with where the bunny’s bottom would be. On my last one, I glued the tail right in the middle of the underside of the hand, and it looked hilariously too high. So aim for the lower part of the palm, below the cheek, and the tail will peek out from behind nicely.
Variations to try, plus spring bulletin board ideas
Once you get the basic handprint bunny down, you can play around with it. Use pastel colored paper instead of white and give your bunny a two toned look. Make the ears from a different color entirely, or add a small paper flower attached to the side of the head. You can also draw little zigzag lines on the ears to mimic fur, or just leave them plain.
If you’re making these in a classroom, the best part is the bulletin board. Arrange a whole family of handprint bunnies on a big green spring background, and you have an instant display. Add some paper carrots, cotton ball clouds, a bright yellow sun, and it looks like a scene from a picture book. The size naturally varies because each hand is different, which makes the board feel alive.
One thing I learned the hard way: if you’re doing a bunny for each kid, make sure their names are written on the back in permanent marker before you put them up. Otherwise you will forget which bunny belongs to which child by the time the glue dries.
A few real-world tips to keep the toddler meltdowns away
Alright, real talk. Crafting with small children can be stressy. Here’s what I do to keep the fun in the project.
First, do the tracing yourself unless your kid is old enough to write their name neatly. Let them hold their hand still, but you draw the outline. It’s faster and a lot less wobbly. They can help with the cutting, but if they’re under four, maybe just let them cut while you watch. And don’t be precious about the shape. A slightly lumpy bunny is a happy bunny.
Second, lay down some newspaper or an old tablecloth before you even mention glue. I know it’s obvious, but I’ve skipped it so many times and ended up scrubbing pom pom fuzz off the table. That was a great Tuesday. Not.
Third, don’t overdo the embellishments. Two eyes, one nose, one tail, and a drawn mouth is plenty. If you add sparkle, bows, and tiny cutout feet, you defeat the whole point of it being a quick craft. Save the extra details for when your kid is older and asks to make a whole bunny family.
And finally, lower your expectations for perfection. That seems like the kind of line every blogging mom says, but I mean it in a specific way. Your handprint bunny is not going to look like a store bought card. It’s going to look like your child’s hand, and that is the entire point. So when the pom pom nose falls off and gets glued on upside down, just take a breath and call it a design choice.
We’re making memories here, not museum art. Although, no lie, my three handprint bunnies are now living on the fridge, and they’re getting more compliments
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