Painting and drawing
Make a family tree of hands
Trace family members' hands in pencil around a drawn trunk to make a shared tree.
Who might enjoy it: Families who enjoy talking about relatives, grandparents and children growing up, especially when several generations can take part. A warm choice for visits and holidays.
- Setup
- About 10 minutes
- Activity
- 15–40 minutes
- Cost
- Low cost
- Mess
- Little mess
- Where
- At a table, seated-friendly
- Help
- Someone nearby
Materials: 5 everyday things, listed below
What you need
- A large sheet of paper or poster board
- A pencil for tracing
- Colored pencils, crayons or markers for coloring in
- A brown marker or crayon for the trunk
- Masking tape to hold the paper still
No need to buy anything special
- No poster board? Tape several sheets of printer paper together, or trace each hand on its own sheet and arrange them later.
- Not everyone can come? Trace hands on separate paper when you see them, cut them out and glue them on.
What to do
- Tape the paper to the table and draw a simple tree trunk and branches together.
- Ask who would like to go first. Anyone may choose not to be traced.
- Rest one person's hand flat on the paper near a branch, fingers spread comfortably.
- Trace around the hand gently with a pencil.
- Write that person's name inside or beside the hand.
- Repeat for each person who wants to join, taking turns.
- Color in the hands together, one color or many, as you like.
- Hang or keep the tree somewhere everyone can see it.
It is okay to stop or change it
It is fine to stop after one hand. Add more names whenever family visits, or keep the tree as it is. Every version is complete.
Make it easier or different
- Make it easier
- Trace just two hands, for example a grandparent and a grandchild, side by side on a smaller sheet.
- With children
- Children trace the older adult's hand and the older adult traces theirs. Add the children's ages or a word each.
- For a group
- In a group, each person traces their own hand on a separate sheet and adds it to a large shared tree on the wall.
- Seated
- Bring the paper to the person on a lap tray or clipboard, so they need not move to the table.
- For low vision
- Go over each pencil outline with a thick dark marker afterward so the shapes are easy to see.
Safety
- Trace with a pencil only and never put paint or ink on skin. Some skin bruises or tears easily, so trace gently and lift away from the hand.
- Ask before touching anyone's hand. If spreading fingers is painful, trace the hand relaxed or as a mitten shape.
- Family trees can bring up people who have died, separation or estrangement. Include anyone they want and let them lead.
- Keep markers away from skin; washable markers come off with soap and water.
These are practical suggestions, not medical advice. You know the person best.
A tree of hands brings different generations onto one page, side by side. Tracing is quick and familiar, and anyone who visits later can add their own hand to the same tree.