School hours are an opportune time for kids to carefully create their Mother’s Day crafts to take home to their moms or other guardian. Are you planning to help your students mark Mother’s Day in the classroom this year? Creating Mother’s Day crafts can be exciting for kids who can’t wait to bring home something for a mother or other guardian, and creating small cards and gifts allows them to practice a whole host of skills from working those fine motor skills to letter writing.
But how do you make sure your Mother’s Day activities are fun and engaging for all students? And what crafts are the best use of your students’ time? The teachers on the Teach Starter team have pulled together some of our favorite ideas that can work in any classroom.
Mother’s Day Crafts for Kids
Recycle Egg Cartons to Make Flowers
Photo courtesy of former teacher and mother Nona
This adorable egg carton flower idea comes from former teacher Nona. After collecting old egg cartons (this would be a great activity to do with your class for Earth Day leading up to May), cut them up into sections of four. Students will use paint to decorate their segment of “petals” and once its dry, glue a straw to the back to so they can stick inside a flower pot or even the ground outside.
Create a Pom-Pom Cactus
Do you have a million and one pom-poms in the classroom? Grab the little fuzzy balls, and have your students get creative creating plants the mother figure in their life can admire and never has to water!
Draft Poems for Mom
Crafting Mother’s Day cards is a classic activity this time of year, but what if you just do not have time for that? Print out a special person card (students can choose from several different versions), and have them show Mom, Grandma, a foster mother, or another special person in their life how much they are learning in their ELA classes by practicing their poetry inside.
Try any of the following:
- A concrete poem in the shape of something she loves like a flower or favorite food.
- A sensory poem to describe her.
- An acrostic poem using the letters in her name — or print out this free LOVE acrostic template for each student to use as a scaffold.
Stamp Cardboard Flowers
Photo courtesy of digital creator Lea
Recycle some old cardboard to make something new like digital creator Lea did with young kiddos! Simply cut strips of cardboard from old boxes and roll them into bundles secured with tape or rubberbands. Kids will use one end of the roll to dip in paint and then stamp onto white or colored paper to create a stamp bouquet. They can even add painted leaves to bring it all together!
Make Mom an Origami Ring
We love teaching students origami because it calms the mind, helps build hand-eye coordination, and boosts their math skills. Students love origami because they can create some pretty cool things — like origami rings they can bring home as a unique gift on Mother’s Day to a mother, father, or another special person in their life. All you need to create a butterfly, cat, pig, or bunny ring with your students this holiday is some paper and our teacher team’s origami ring instructions!
Compile Photos in a Bookmark
Teacher Hannah of Australia created these sweet Mother’s Day bookmarks with her students. You’ll first need a camera to take photos of your kids (this would be a great opportunity to bring in a parent volunteer if you have access to one!). In the first photo, they’ll hold an “I”. The second, a heart and the third, a “U”. You can also modify this idea by having your kids hold one sign that says “I Love You” or “I ❤️ U”.
Photo courtesy of Year 6 teacher Hannah of Australia
Once the photos are printed, have each child glue their photos onto a piece of colored paper of their choice. You can either have “Happy Mother’s Day” already printed onto the paper or have each student write it themselves in their own handwriting. Opening a book will never be sweeter for those special moms!
Looking for more bookmark ideas? Print out our ready-to-color Mother’s Day bookmarks.
Dye Paper Towel Roses
You can call making paper towel roses a Mother’s Day craft or turn it into more of a STEM activity by having students hypothesize what will happen when you try to dye paper towels, recording observations all through this fun activity. No matter what you call it, the result will be some gorgeous flowers they can take home to gift to a special person in their world on Mother’s Day weekend.
Get the flower creation instructions here!
Create an I Love You to Pieces Card
Confession time: This “Stained glass” I Love You to Pieces card was created by the Teach Starter teacher team for Valentine’s Day. But it’s a perfect tool to pull out of your teaching toolkit around Mother’s Day or Father’s Day because it’s open-ended. Students can tell any special parent figure they love them with this craft which also happens to be great for working those fine motor muscles as students have to practice using scissors, pasting, and writing.
Print out the template, and decide if you are just going to use the white background or have the students cut out the heart and ‘I love you’ words to stick on a colored piece of card. Then use tissue paper cut into squares for the ‘pieces’ of the heart. Depending on the age of your students, you may want to have these pre-cut and ready to go, or your students can practice measuring out squares with a ruler, then put their scissor skills to the test!
Get more fun card ideas:
Paint Drip Pots
Photo courtesy of digital creator and founder of Domino and Juliette, Cali
This delightfully colorful idea comes from Cali which doubles not only as a Mother’s Day gift but also as a spring decoration! Once your students have finished their pots, they can plant a flower with their mom for Mother’s Day or you can help them plant something at school so they can take it home and surprise mom that much more.
You will need:
- Clay flower pots
- White or silver paint + colored tempera paint
- Paint brush
- Water
- Modge Podge
To create:
- Paint the outside of the pot silver or white.
- Flip the pot over when it’s dry and dribble tempera paint around the top edge for a drip effect. You can add water to the paint to make it drip more easily.
- Seal the pot with Modge Podge
Fold a Blooming Heart
Hearts and flowers are both iconic Mother’s Day symbols, so why not bring them together? This fun craft template has been designed as a flower with a twist! Students fold it up in the shape of a heart and add their messages for Mom. When she unfolds her gift, she’ll reveal the flower blossom!
Make Handy Flowers
All you need for this creative craft idea is some colored paper, some pipe cleaners, ribbon and a cute hand to trace around! Students trace around their hand (they may need help), and cut out the hands. Then, use a pencil to curl the fingers around, creating paper hand flowers.
All you need to do then is tape the rounded hand onto a pipe cleaner for a bouquet kids can take home for Mother’s Day!
Build an Exploding Gift Box
One creative craft from a member of our Teach Starter teacher team is the Mother’s Day exploding gift box idea. This craft for kids requires them to carefully put the pieces together to get the “exploding” effect, testing those engineering skills as they create something special for that special someone.
Banner image via shutterstock/Yuriy Golub
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