The Kissing Hand: Father's Day Gift Idea

We accidentally stumbled upon The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn one winter day while we were at Barnes and Noble.   It's one of our favorite places to go on cold or rainy days.  First stop, the coffee shop for a non fat latte, a milk and a chocolate biscotti.  The smell of books and coffee! Heaven!  Next stop, the children's section.  We love to grab a pile of books and take them to the little stage they have on one side.  We curl up together in the corner of it and read the afternoon away.  I always find myself whispering as I read until one day the nice woman who worked in the children's section stopped and says, "You know you can read louder.  It's not a library.  We encourage you to read and enjoy here."  And from that day on we have joyfully read our books at a comfortable and audible volume.  Back to the Kissing Hand!  I couldn't stop crying while reading it that very first time! My 3 year old kept looking up at me and asking "What's wrong mama?" Some books should come with a big fat "Mama Warning" stamped across the front cover. "Enter at your own risk".  It should be the law!!  I mean, geeze, give a girl a little heads up.  If you haven't read it yet, I encourage you to find a copy quick.  We checked it out the library and eventually bought a copy.  I promise, you will love it!  It would make such a lovely baby shower, first day of school, grandparent....  present. The touching book helps calm fears of separation from the ones that we love.  Kindergarten teachers often use it on the first day of school to help both their students and their parents.  Get your tissues ready!!

We decided to use this book as the inspiration for Valentine's presents for grandparents and daddy.  But wouldn't it be a nice gift for Father's Day?  Don't forget grandpa!

What You Need:

       *Tempera Paints in various colors
       *Canvas or poster board
       *Paint brushes
       *Heart stencil or cookie cutter
       *Ice cube tray or other container for paint

I just love these little canvas panels!  They are the perfect size for little artists.   Look what's on the back, a place for the little artist to sign their name, title their work, and even give the medium.  We found a five pack of them at Hobby Lobby.

We filled our ice cube tray with paint and got to work painting our backgrounds.

Now for the hand prints!  It's messy but so much fun too!

After our handprints dried, we traced a heart cookie cutter onto the palm of each hand.

We then carefully painted each heart with a contrasting color.

We included a print out of a Kissing Hand poem we found on Pinterest.  

Aren't these mini wooden easels adorable!  Found them too at Hobby Lobby!

Here is our finished masterpiece as it sits on daddy's desk at work!  He loves it!

Check out our other Father's Day gift ideas.  

If you like this book activity idea, click here to check out our others.  

What's your favorite cold, rainy day activity with kids?  

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