If you are a teacher, Mother’s Day is an excellent time to get your students’ creative juices flowing. Celebrating an important female relative in a child’s life, whether they are a mother or not, gives students both a chance to show those people how they feel and a chance to stretch their imaginations. As a bonus, other lessons can be worked into these crafts such as color, perspective, creative writing and explanations of types of art that the students may not know. The possibilities are endless. If you are looking for ideas for your own classroom’s Mother’s Day crafts, look no further. Below are some of the best Mother’s Day craft ideas out there.
Write a Poem
Poems are a wonderful way to show someone you care. Have your students write poems for the special women in their lives. This craft is an excellent way to discuss rhymes, pacing and phrasing. The students could print their new poems inside cards they decorated themselves.
Photo Cards
Use a camera to snap photos of your students standing with their arms held out as if they are giving a hug. Trim these photos into heart shapes and attach them to Mother’s Day cards. Allow your students to decorate around their photos and write letters inside the cards. This craft is an amazing writing practice.
Coupon Books
Give your students pieces of cardstock and have them decorate them. The cardstock will become the covers for a coupon book for their mother or special woman in their life. Then you can either pick up free coupons from local businesses or ask your students to come up with coupons that their mother can redeem at any time, such as a coupon for a free hug or a coupon that entails that the student will do the dishes one night so that their mother can have a break.
Origami Roses
There are free printable instructions for making all kinds of origami online. Get colorful paper and help your students fold origami roses for their mothers. If you have enough time and paper, each student could fold a small bouquet of roses. These bouquets can then be tied with ribbon bows and presented to their mothers. Unlike real roses, these will never wilt and can be used as beautiful keepsakes for years to come. Most students love origami, and this is an excellent way to teach them new shapes.
Recipe Book
Each day in the weeks leading up to Mother’s Day, print a recipe on the blackboard and have your students copy them on plain white paper. Then have them make a cover for the recipe book which they will then give to the special woman in their life. This craft is excellent for teaching good penmanship as well as vocabulary related to cooking. Your students will be delighted to present their homemade recipe books to their mothers.
Picture Frames
Have your students decorate special picture frames for the special women in their lives. Be creative! The picture frames can be decorated with paints, stamps, pebbles or shells. Picture frames are cheaply available at most budget outlet stores. Remove the glass before allowing the students to decorate the frames.
Clay Pots
Buy very inexpensive clay pots. Then allow your students to decorate them. Do this a few weeks before Mother’s Day. Then sow flower seeds in each pot. Water the flowers as needed and watch them grow. This is both a wonderful present for the special women in your students’ lives and an amazing science lesson about how plants grow and the various types of seeds.
Fingerpaint Bookmarks
Make bookmarks from strips of white cardstock. Then allow your students to go absolutely crazy with the finger paints. This is a fun, messy craft and your students will enjoy getting to finger paint a gift. Poke a hole in the end of the bookmark and add a ribbon to make it extra special once it is dry.
Mother’s Day is a wonderful creative time of year. Children are excited to show the special women in their lives just how much they are loved, and mothers, grandmothers and other special ladies are happy to receive gifts from their favorite children. Mother’s Day is also an excellent teaching opportunity. Many important lessons can be taught effectively by craft projects. These lessons include perspective, color choice, creative writing, simple arithmetic skills, penmanship and grammar. As a bonus, these crafts are not expensive. Most of them can be done with found objects or ones bought from budget outlets. The key here is to be creative. Use your imagination and let your creativity flow. The ideas listed above are merely a starting point. Use your imagination and who knows what wonderful ideas you could discover!