Baby Handprint and Footprint Kits

By: Ashleigh Renee

When you think about it, one of the great miracles of the human body is its amazing ability to grow. Childhood, more or less a state of constant growth, is a time when parents can all but watch their little ones develop. It happens so fast that sometimes it might seem every day brings a jump in size. Another week flies by, and they've outgrown their clothes. Another month, and they need new shoes. They grow up so quickly!

While your baby is still small, you might be thinking of ways to preserve a record of their tiny size and shape. Perhaps your own parents bronzed your baby shoes when you were a child. They may also have kept a lock of your hair. The latest, most fashionable innovation in that lovely tradition is to create a permanent keepsake using a handprint kit or footprint kit. Since their debut just a few years ago, these kits have quickly become a favorite among trendy and traditional parents alike, for their unique approach to creating a permanent and unique souvenir.

Handprint and footprint kits are usually relatively compact and include hypoallergenic, nontoxic plaster in specially constructed "casting" tins. Much like the casts they may have made in science or art class when children themselves, parents mix the plaster with water and impress the child's hand or foot into the wet mixture. When the plaster dries, the print is ready for display.

The kits come in a variety of sizes, and some kits include several casting tins to be spread out and used over a number of years. For example, one handprint kit comes with five separate tins of plaster, one for each of baby's first five years. When the five kits are complete, parents have a visual record of baby's growth, with the prints stacked beside each other illustrating how the baby's handprint became bigger and more distinct as they grew.

Unlike more traditional baby growth keepsakes like the bronze shoes mentioned above, baby footprint and handprint kits offer parents and children alike a unique finished product. Because the footprints and handprints created are as individual as fingerprints, the final casting is by itself is like no other in the world. And unlike samples of hair, they won't deteriorate over time. The plaster used is safe, quick to dry, and offers the child and parents both a fun, exciting texture to touch and use.

Baby handprint and baby footprint kits also make delightful gifts. Many online children's boutiques and baby gift stores offer specially decorated kits that feature packaging and motifs suitable for any birthday, baby shower gift, or other special occasion. In fact, many of the kits arrive in color coordinated tins that perfectly match not only each other but are well suited to almost any children's room décor. Because they're such wonderful keepsakes, handprint and footprint kits are especially good gift suggestions for grandparents and godparents. They hit the perfect note of both warmhearted goodwill and contemporary class.

Corner Stork Baby Gifts offers a complete selection of baby handprint kits and baby footprint kits with the latest in designs and color schemes.