Furniture, Wood and Cabinetry Finishing - Painting animal pictures on finished oak cradle

I have purchased a new, Amish-built solid oak cradle for my new grandson. It has a glossy finish over the natural wood. I intend to paint pictures of animals on it, but I don't know exactly how to preserve the look of the natural wood, but prepare the surface for the paint. I believe that I should be using acrylics to paint the animals, but wonder if my acrylics (which I use for painting on paper and canvas) is the right thing to use on wood. Should I be sanding the entire surface, so that when I'm finished painting, I can put a clear coat(s) of something (polyurethane? varnish? shellac???) over the paint? I need to get this done before my grandson gets too big to use it! And what is safe for babies? From what I've read in this forum, most of today's paints are okay...is this correct? Thanks in advance for your help.

Considering that the cradle won't be used all that long, decoupage may be the best route. I have attached a page on decoupage. Paining with acrylics seems to be the best choice.

http://www.decoupageonline.com/finishing.html

Although this page leads through micromeshing the surface, the life expectancy of the cradle would be important to me in deciding how to do this. If you intend to keep the cradle with the decoration intact for many years, follow all the steps.

If it is planned only for the short time the child will use the cradle, the acrylics alone may be sufficient. The cradle will not be useful for the child once he can sit up.

Hope this helps.