Give your children a clean piece of paper. Using a black ink pad, let them explore how the fingerprints on their thumb, index finger, middle finger, ring finger and pinky each have a different shape, size and pattern. Let them see how their fingerprints look using different color inks.
Give each child a small piece of paper, about one square inch, with straight edges. Show them that when they put this square of paper on their larger sheet and make a fingerprint so that only part of it is on the smaller square of paper, the fingerprint that remains after they take the smaller square of paper away has a straight edge. Show them how they can make fun designs by mixing normal rounded fingerprints and fingerprints with straight edges. Use different colors.
Show your children that they can make a fingerprint person by using a thumb fingerprint for the body and a smaller fingerprint for the head. Give them pencils or markers to add arms and legs to the body and head. Ask your children to create a fingerprint family.
Ask your children to put four thumbprints on a piece of paper. Tell them to use a pencil or a marker to turn those four thumbprints into animal heads. Show them how by turning one of your thumbprints into a pig or a cat, for example.
Ask your children to put seven thumbprints in a line on a piece of paper, with a space in between each thumbprint. Tell them to use a pencil or marker to draw a train using the seven thumbprints. Ask them to make other vehicles using fingerprints.