Mother’s Day crafts kids can make at home
“Crafts are a great activity for children of all ages, as the crafts can inspire their imagination, help improve fine motor skills, develop cognitive skills, and once the craft is done, I can guarantee the child, no matter the age, will feel very proud of the end result,” says Lois Ann Peters, who runs an unlicensed inhome daycare in Wheatley River, P.E.I..
This year, with children not being in school or daycares, the typical Mother’s Day crafts will not be coming home. It’s up to other family members to help children make something unique and special for mom.
To get ideas for simple crafts made from items most likely found already at home, we turned to experts across Atlantic Canada.
Peters offers two ideas for Mother’s Day crafts and says she can almost guarantee the supplies can be found in most homes.
HANDPRINT FLORAL BOUQUET
To make this, you will need white paper, construction and cardstock paper. Regular paper works, but not as well.
Have an adult paint the hands of infants and toddlers with non-toxic craft or Crayola paint and then place it down on the paper, making handprints.
Repeat the process using different colours until you have five or six for a bouquet. Once dried, the adult can help the child either roll up green paper to make a stem or use straws, pipe cleaners or popsicle sticks, and tape one end of each to the back of each flower.
Oval shapes can also be painted green or cut out of construction paper and taped onto the stems as leaves. Tie the stems together with ribbon or yarn and the child will have a handprint bouquet to give to mom for Mother’s Day.
Children aged two and up can paint their hands themselves, and toddlers especially enjoy being able to do it themselves. They can use solid colours or be creative and add multiple colours to each handprint. Once dried, an adult may need to assist in cutting them out. Older children may like to trace their hands onto the paper and then colour with markers, creating designs they think their mom will like.
I LOVE YOU TO PIECES
There are two ways to create this one, ways Peters: either draw puzzle piece shapes onto white or coloured paper and cut out, or use pieces from a puzzle that is missing some pieces.
If using white paper, you can paint or colour your puzzle pieces with markers. If using puzzle pieces, you can either use the picture side or can use the cardboard back and paint or colour with marker.
Then, cut out a square cardboard shape, roughly 5x7 inches or larger, depending on the size you’d like. Glue whichever pieces you are using onto the cardboard. Leave a bit of an edging on the outside as a frame and write on the top or bottom, “Love You to Pieces!”
SEALED WITH LOVE
Nancy O’halloran, creator of Braveheart First Aid (https://braveheartfirstaid. com/), and babysitter instructor in Kentville, N.S., has a file of ideas she provides to her teenaged students.
“We encourage the youth in these courses to be creative and unique babysitters, and to have ideas on file for every holiday, including Mother’s Day,” says O’halloran.
To make this craft, you need a mason jar or bottle, ribbon, markers and scissors.
Think of as many reasons your mom is the best and write each one on a piece of paper. Examples might include, “You make the best cookies” or “You care about me.”
Roll up each piece of paper and put it in the jar. When finished, make a tag for the jar, and tie the ribbon around the lid.
“I LOVE MOM BECAUSE” FLOWERS FOR MOTHER’S DAY
Carla Joules is an intensive core French Grade 6 teacher at Newtown Elementary School in Mount Pearl, N.L. She has a knack and a love for doing crafts. And even though she says her students laugh at her drawings, she says it makes them more comfortable about not always needing to be perfect either.
Joules’ Mother’s Day craft of choice is adapted from one she found on the blog, A Dab of Glue Will Do. Video instructions and a printable (available for a small fee) can be found on that website.
Materials needed include white paper or cardstock and printed copies of the templates found at the link (if desired — they make this activity easier, she says), scissors, colouring supplies (crayons, markers, etc.), glue, pencil, and a pipe cleaner or straw (optional).
Start by colouring in the “Mom” flower template if you have printed it. If you are drawing your own, the flower head should take up most of a full page. You will want to have eight big petals for writing on and the middle circle of the flower should be big enough to write “Mom” in. If you are drawing your own, you or a helper should trace this flower so that you have a matching flower to glue underneath (this will be where you will be writing your reasons for why you love your mom).
Next, decorate the printed flowerpot template with a drawing of you and your mom or a great memory you have together. You can draw your own flowerpot to colour in, too.
Your flowerpot should take up about half of a sheet of white paper and should be nice and wide (remember that you will be drawing a picture of you and your mom on it!) On the rim of your flowerpot, you or a helper can write “I love my mom because…” You will also need to draw a nice, thick flower stem coming up from the middle of your flowerpot with some leaves coming off it. Make sure to colour your flower stem green, Joules says.
Now, on the bottom flower (the one you traced or the one printed that says “Glue here”), you are going to write eight different reasons you love your mom.
Cut out your flowers and your flowerpot. On your “Mom” flower, make sure that you cut the petals out until the middle circle so that you can lift the petals up to read the writing underneath.
Lastly, glue your bottom flower (with the writing) to your flower stem. Glue the “Mom” flower to the bottom flower — only glue the middle part of your flower so that you can lift up the top petals to still read the writing. If you want to, you can tape or glue a straw or pipe cleaner to your flower stem to make it stronger.
Now you’re ready to give this to Mom!
Go online: https://www. adabofgluewilldo.com/mothers-day-flower-gift/
FLOWER BOUQUET
Emily Mcdonald of Sweet Song Studio in Stratford, PEI, offers music programs (now available online) that aim to engage children in learning as well as boost their positive development. As a way to support families during this time, Sweet Song Studio has created engaging content on its Facebook page to keep children happy and busy. This also includes craft activities like this flower bouquet for Mother’s Day, which can be adapted for various ages.
Materials include an egg carton, construction paper, a toilet paper roll, washable paint and paintbrushes, glue (you can use white glue or hot glue if you want it to dry faster) and scissors.
Take an egg carton and cut out your flowers, centres and leaves. There are so many shapes you can make with one egg carton, get creative! Then, cut thin strips of construction paper for the stems.
Next, cut out a strip of paper to be the table.
“I used blue and cut a long strip to go across the bottom of the page,” says Mcdonald.
From there, paint the toilet paper rolls, egg carton flowers and leaves. You can use your paintbrushes or have fun doing some finger-painting, Mcdonald adds.
When everything is dry, you can start gluing it all in place. Start by gluing the top half of the stems, allowing the rest to sit in the toilet paper vase. Glue the centres of the flowers into place. Then add the flowers, leaves, vase and table.
When the glue is all dry, your craft is all ready to give to your very special Mom!
Go online: https://www. facebook.com/kindermusikwithmissemilypei/