With Fathers’ Day just a few days away, these make for an ideal last minute gift. They are quick, easy and incredibly fun to make.

We’ve made a variety of different designs ranging from simple handprints, to mini monsters and an assortment of animals as we have a number of loved ones we plan to give them to over the next few months.

Here is what you’ll need:

Shrink plastic (the kind used for making jewellery – these can be picked up from craft stores such as The Range and Hobbycraft),
An oven,
Acrylic paint,
Sharpie pens,
Scissors,
Baking tray,
Baking parchment,
Keychains,
Hole punch,
PVA glue or clear nail varnish.

How to make these:

Clean your child’s hand/foot and paint with acrylic paint. Make sure you only paint a thin layer; if it is too thick, it will peel or shrivel as it bakes in the oven. This took me a couple of tries before I found the right consistency.
Press their hand/foot firmly onto the shrink plastic sheet. Wipe off any slippage or excess paint from the plastic to neaten up the edges.
Allow the prints to dry fully. Once dry, use a sharpie to write on the reverse, non painted side.
Cut the prints out and hole punch the top or bottom of each print.
Place a sheet of baking parchment on a large baking tray and preheat the oven to gas mark 3/365°F.
Place each print paint side down on the baking parchment and place in the oven for 2-3 minutes. The plastic distorts as it shrinks, I found that it peeled during this process when it was placed paint side up. It will curl up and flip whilst it is shrinking but it will flatten back down once it has fully shrunk, so don’t worry.
Take the tray out of the oven and press any distorted prints flat.
Once cooled, paint glue or clear varnish over the painted side of the print to help secure the paint and reduce the risk of it being scratched off over time.
Attach to a keychain and give to your loved ones.