Use our printable shamrock handprint art templates to make shamrock handprint crafts with toddlers, preschoolers, kindergarteners, and school-aged kids for Saint Patrick’s Day.
Shamrock handprint art makes a great gift idea for friends and family on St. Patrick’s Day! So, use our shamrock handprint craft templates with our original handprint shamrock poem to make cute Saint Patrick’s Day handprint arts and crafts with your children at home or in the classroom. To make it even easier, we have step-by-step directions, examples, and lots of photographs of different ways to make a handprint shamrock included below. Scroll down to see them all, or check out the step-by-step Saint Patrick’s Day handprint craft instructions to make a lucky four-leaf clover instead.
Update: Please note that we have updated this post since its first publication in March of 2018 to include several more printable shamrock templates that you can use to make handprint shamrock arts and crafts with the kids. Today, this shamrock art printable with the poem is available in black or green ink with the poem printed at the top or the bottom in a slightly different italicized text. Click the link above to see what each printable shamrock art option looks like. Then print your favorite to use for your handprint shamrock crafts. You might also enjoy this list of Saint Patrick’s Day Arts and Crafts for kids.
Related: Rainbow Shamrock Salt Painting
Easy Shamrock Handprint Arts and Crafts for Kids
Is there someone in your life that you can never figure out what to give them? For me, that person is my father, he never needs or wants anything! Fortunately, he adores his only granddaughter, he is an Irishman named Patrick, and his favorite color happens to be green–surprise, surprise!
Yup, this means that my daughter and I have finally designed the perfect handmade shamrock gift for him. (see what I did there?) And, my brother too, of course. He, like my dad, is also an Irishman named Patrick.
My father thought our shamrock handprint poem was so lovely. He asked me to share it with you as a shamrock art template that you can download and print. Isn’t that fantastic!? We thought so too. Unfortunately, he is no longer around to enjoy these sweet St. Patrick’s Day crafts, may he rest in peace.
But we sure are glad that you can make this cute handprint shamrock craft, complete with our original shamrock handprint poem template, for someone you love this Saint Patrick’s Day in his memory.
Shamrock Handprint Art Template with PoemHandprint Shamrock Art Supplies
Gather the supplies below to make handprint shamrock crafts:
- Shamrock handprint art template with shamrock handprint poem (Contains a total of six different pages to choose from to make shamrock handprint crafts and gifts for family and friends.)
- Cardstock or square canvas
- Green tempera or green acrylic paint
- Paintbrush
Related: The Best Art Supplies for Kids and Why Young Artists Should Use Them
How to Make a Handprint Shamrock Craft for St. Patrick’s Day
There are several different ways you can choose to create shamrock handprint arts and crafts. So we made a few printable shamrock craft templates with our original handprint poem that you can use to create a handprint shamrock any way you want it to look. Or, skip the shamrock art printable by making your handprint shamrock directly onto a square canvas or piece of cardstock, as shown below.
If you choose to use our printable shamrock art template, we have six printable options you can print to make Saint Patrick’s Day crafts. Create a handprint art shamrock inside the black or green shamrock outline, or make shamrock handprint crafts with your hands on the blank shamrock handprint craft template.
Each of the printable handprint shamrock craft templates has the option of the shamrock handprint poem printed at the top or the bottom of the page. Choose your favorite shamrock craft template option, and use it to make Saint Patrick’s Day arts and crafts at home or in the classroom.
Or, make St. Patrick’s Day handprint arts and crafts with our lucky four-leaf clover handprint craft template and poem! And, while you’re at it, make sure you teach children about the difference between a shamrock and a clover to make it even more fun. You can find the answer in this list of Saint Patrick’s Day art and craft ideas.
Shamrock Handprint Art Tutorial
Follow the simple step-by-step instructions below to create a handprint shamrock with our printable poem for Saint Patrick’s Day. Or, if you would prefer to make your art directly onto a square canvas, we have provided our shamrock handprint poem at the bottom of this post for you to copy onto it. (But please don’t publish it on your blog or store.)
Another option is to write the handprint shamrock poem on a blank Saint Patrick’s Day greeting card to complete this shamrock handprint gift idea. (Please note: the original poem by Nell Regan Kartychok, and art templates, are for personal use only. They are copyright protected and are not for commercial use–thank you!)
Related: Homemade Gifts Kids Can Make
1. Print the shamrock art template (optional) and gather shamrock handprint craft supplies:
- First, print your favorite printable shamrock art template onto heavy cardstock.
- You will notice that we have three printable shamrock handprint craft template options with a poem available for you to use. They differ in color, poem placement, and verse.
- There are two different St. Patrick’s Day handprint pomes to choose from. One shamrock handprint poem is for use with shamrock crafts with a single handprint and another version of the verse is for use with shamrock craft projects with multiple handprints.
- You will notice that we have three printable shamrock handprint craft template options with a poem available for you to use. They differ in color, poem placement, and verse.
- Alternatively, you can create this Saint Patrick’s Day handprint craft without a shamrock outline directly onto heavyweight cardstock (as shown in the photographs above) or onto a square-shaped art canvas.
- Another easy way to create a handprint shamrock is to make three handprint stamps from left to right in a circle with each handprint stamp made to represent one lobe or leaf of the shamrock as shown in the photograph below.
- Step-by-step instructions for each of these shamrock handprint craft options follow. Scroll down to learn each step.
2. Paint one hand (or both hands) with green paint:
- Use a flat wash paintbrush to paint your child’s hand, or hands, with green tempera paint or green acrylic paint. In other words, use one hand to create the leaves of the shamrock, or both if you choose.
- My daughter and I found it super easy, and less messy, to use one hand and spin the paper around to create multiple leaves, as shown in the photograph above. However, it might also be fun to have both hands represented in your shamrock art.
3. Stamp handprints to make a shamrock directly onto the cardstock shamrock craft template or art canvas:
- Gently press and lift the painted hand (or hands) down on the handprint shamrock template, or directly onto a square canvas, to create handprint shamrock art.
- There are four primary ways to create handprint shamrock crafts. Instructions for each handprint shamrock art option follow:
- Make a single handprint in the center of the shamrock outline of your favorite printable template.
- Stamp a single handprint inside each of the three-lobed leaves on your favorite printable shamrock outline.
- Create a shamrock using three handprints without the printable outline or template, as shown in the photograph above.
- In other words, stamp three handprints around in a circular shape to look like a shamrock without an outline around the handprints. Each handprint represents one of the three leaves of the shamrock.
- First, make a green handprint in the middle of a piece of cardstock or an art canvas. Then paint a shamrock shape around it. I did this around my daughter’s handprint in the photograph below. (Learn how to draw a shamrock HERE, or paint a shamrock with the step-by-step instructions below.)
- Each of these shamrock handprint art options is shown in the photographs for this post. Scroll up and down to see the shamrock handprint craft options. We have several shamrock handprint craft examples you can use for ideas. They are sprinkled throughout this shamrock craft tutorial to help you determine how you want to make shamrock handprint crafts.
- Allow shamrock handprint crafts time to dry before handling.
How to Paint a Shamrock:
- Use a round paintbrush to paint a simple shamrock around the handprint art following the step-by-step instructions below.
- If you’re not confident painting freehand, lightly sketch a shamrock on your paper or canvas before using a paintbrush to trace the outline.
- A shamrock typically has three heart-shaped leaves and a stem. Draw or paint a series of connected hearts in a circle starting with the heart in the center, or the heart on the left or right side, leaving the center open with the handprint inside:
- To paint the shamrock below, I started with the center heart at the top that encapsulates the top three fingers of the handprint.
- Then, I painted the heart-shaped clover leaf lobes on the left and right sides of the handprint art.
- In other words, I first painted the heart shape sitting upright with the lobes up. Then I added the other two heart-shaped lobed leaves on the opposing sides to complete the simple green shamrock painting around the handprint art.
- Next, paint the stem of the shamrock starting at the base of the leaves by dragging the brush in downward strokes to create a thin line. Give it a gentle curve to the left or right for a more natural look, as shown in the photograph below. This will create a cute little short stem at the bottom of the shamrock craft.
- Allow your shamrock painting to dry completely before handling.
Another Handprint Shamrock Craft Example:
Since my daughter is getting older and her hand is getting bigger, we had to overlap her palms a bit more to create the shamrock art on regular-sized paper, as shown in the photograph below. If you have a child with a smaller hand, you can create the handprint art shamrock to make the palms more visible. Or, of course, you can use a larger canvas with or without a shamrock shape painted around it as instructed above.
Scroll up and down to see all of our shamrock handprint craft examples from a few years ago. (Please note: we have updated our shamrock art printable templates so they look a bit different today than they do in the photographs. This shamrock art printable with the poem is now available in black or green outline with the poem at the top or the bottom in slightly different italicized text. Click the link to see what it looks like today.)
Related: Four Leaf Clover Handprint with Poem
Saint Patrick’s Day Shamrock Handprint Poem
I wrote a cute little Saint Patrick’s Day shamrock handprint poem to go with this shamrock handprint art project. Send it to someone you love for Saint Patrick’s Day! Click on the link to access the printable shamrock template with the poem. Or use an extra-fine tip paint pen to write the shamrock handprint poem onto a Saint Patrick’s Day card, or an art canvas with a handprint shamrock.
You will notice that I have written two slightly different versions of the shamrock handprint poem. The one you use will depend on how you choose to make the shamrock handprint art to go with it. Below you will find the Shamrock handprint poem for three hands, followed by the St. Patrick’s Day poem for one single handprint in the middle of the shamrock.
Please Note: These shamrock handprint poems by Nell Regan K. (founder of Rhythms of Play) are Copyright protected, and are for non-commercial personal use only, thank you!)
Shamrock Handprint Poem for 3 Handprints
These aren’t just handprints, as you can plainly see.
I made a special shamrock to remind you of me.
With my little green handprints, I’m sending love and luck your way.
As a special blessing from me to you on Saint Patrick’s Day!
Nell Regan Kartychok.
Shamrock Handprint Poem for a Single Handprint
This isn’t just a handprint, as you can plainly see.
I made a special shamrock to remind you of me.
With my little green handprint, I’m sending love and luck your way.
As a special blessing from me to you on Saint Patrick’s Day!
~Nell Regan Kartychok.
Related: Saint Patrick’s Day Shamrock Art
Easy Handprint Shamrock Craft for Toddlers and Preschoolers
Shamrock handprint art is more than a fun St. Patrick’s Day craft. This shamrock art activity for kids allows for a hands-on experience that can be both educational and entertaining. Not only is making a shamrock with handprints a wonderful opportunity for children to express themselves creatively. Creating handprint shamrock crafts allows kids to develop their hand strength and dexterity while making something beautiful.
Making beautiful crafts with children that serve a purpose fosters a bond and instills in them a sense of accomplishment and pride in their creations. The different shamrock handprint art options give artists the ability to personalize this homemade project for various uses, from personalized decorations to heartfelt gifts
Send this shamrock handprint poem with your children’s handprint art as a gift to mom, dad, grandparents, or someone else you think might appreciate it for Saint Patrick’s Day this year!
And, don’t forget to have a look at this HUGE list of Saint Patrick’s Day art and craft ideas!
Learn more about Rhythms of Play HERE!
If You Liked This Saint Patrick’s Day Shamrock Craft, You May Also Like
- Rainbow Shamrock Salt Painting
- Four Leaf Clover Collage
- Spring Bucket List of Fun Activities for Kids
- Flower Art Projects Kids Love!
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