My grandmother told me once that you are never really complete until you are a mom.  I was 13 at the time, and didn’t appreciate that notion as much as I do now.

Mother’s Day is a special occasion that allows us to honor and express our love and appreciation for the incredible women in our lives. As parents, we often seek ways to make this day truly meaningful for our children, and one of the most cherished gifts they can offer is a handmade creation.

Crafting with children not only encourages their creativity and self-expression but also fosters a deeper connection between them and their mothers.

Handmade gifts hold a unique and personal charm that store-bought items often lack.

When children pour their hearts and souls into a project, the result is a one-of-a-kind treasure that captures their love and appreciation. By engaging in these craft activities, children have the opportunity to express their emotions, develop their artistic skills, and create lasting memories with their mothers.

These heartfelt creations serve as tangible reminders of the bond they share, making Mother’s Day all the more special.

I don’t share out picts of my kids too often, so here is a little glimpse into what fills my life with joy each and every day!

From my daughter’s wedding last year, along with my son and husband. It was an amazingly special day in every way!

Handprint Flower Bouquet: A Timeless Mother’s Day Classic

One of the most timeless and beloved Mother’s Day crafts is the handprint flower bouquet. This project allows children to transform their own handprints into a vibrant and colorful floral arrangement, creating a truly unique and personal gift for their mothers. To create this craft, children will need construction paper or cardstock in various colors, scissors, glue, and markers or crayons.

Begin by having the children trace their hands on the colored paper, cutting out the handprints. Encourage them to experiment with different colors and sizes to add depth and variety to the bouquet.

Next, they can use markers or crayons to add details and patterns to the handprints, transforming them into individual flower petals. Once the “flowers” are ready, the children can arrange them in a bouquet-like formation, gluing the handprints together to create the final piece.

To add a finishing touch, they can decorate the background with additional paper elements, such as leaves or stems, to complete the floral display.

This craft not only allows children to express their creativity but also serves as a tangible representation of their love and appreciation for their mothers. The handprint flowers can be displayed proudly in the home, serving as a heartwarming reminder of the child’s affection. Additionally, this project can be adapted to suit different age groups, with younger children focusing on the handprint aspect and older children adding more intricate details and designs to their flowers.

Fingerprint Heart Keepsake: Preserving Precious Memories

Another meaningful Mother’s Day craft that captures the uniqueness of each child is the fingerprint heart keepsake. This project allows children to create a personalized and lasting memento that their mothers can cherish for years to come. To make this craft, you’ll need cardstock or thick paper, ink pads or paint, and a frame or other display option.

Begin by having the children press their fingertips onto the ink pad or paint, then carefully imprint their unique fingerprints onto the cardstock in the shape of a heart. Encourage them to experiment with different colors and patterns to create a visually appealing design.

Once the fingerprints are in place, the children can add additional decorative elements, such as glitter, sequins, or small drawings, to further personalize the piece.

The fingerprint heart keepsake is a beautiful way to preserve the individuality of each child and the special bond they share with their mother. The finished product can be framed or incorporated into a larger display, serving as a constant reminder of the child’s love and appreciation. This craft is particularly meaningful as it captures a unique aspect of the child, making it a truly one-of-a-kind gift that will be cherished for years to come.

Painted Pebble Picture Frame: A Unique and Personalized Gift

For a truly unique and personalized Mother’s Day gift, consider the painted pebble picture frame. This craft allows children to transform ordinary pebbles into a beautiful and functional frame that can showcase a special photograph of their mother.

To create this project, you’ll need smooth pebbles, acrylic paints, paintbrushes, and a picture frame. Begin by having the children collect a variety of pebbles, ensuring they are clean and smooth. Encourage them to select pebbles of different shapes and sizes to add visual interest to the final product.

Next, provide the children with a selection of acrylic paints and let them unleash their creativity. They can experiment with different color combinations, patterns, and designs to personalize their pebbles.

Once the pebbles are painted, the children can arrange them around the picture frame, gluing them in place to create a unique and eye-catching border.

This craft not only allows children to express their artistic abilities but also gives them the opportunity to select a special photograph of their mother to display within the frame. The finished product is a thoughtful and one-of-a-kind gift that showcases the child’s creativity and the special bond they share with their mother.

Tissue Paper Stained Glass: Bringing Vibrant Color to Mom’s Day

For a craft that adds a touch of vibrant color and whimsy to Mother’s Day, consider the tissue paper stained glass project. This activity allows children to create a stunning, translucent artwork that can be displayed in a window or frame, bringing a warm and inviting glow to any space.

To make this craft, you’ll need tissue paper in various colors, a clear plastic sheet or frame, glue, and scissors.

Begin by having the children select their desired tissue paper colors, encouraging them to experiment with different hues and combinations.

They can then cut the tissue paper into various shapes and sizes, ranging from simple geometric forms to more intricate designs. As they layer and arrange the tissue paper pieces on the clear plastic or frame, the children can explore different patterns and compositions, creating a truly unique work of art.

The tissue paper stained glass craft not only allows children to tap into their creative side but also results in a stunning and vibrant display that celebrates the beauty of Mother’s Day. The translucent quality of the tissue paper creates a mesmerizing effect when the light shines through, adding a touch of whimsy and warmth to any space. This project is a wonderful way for children to express their love and appreciation for their mothers while also showcasing their artistic talents.

Homemade Greeting Card: Crafting from the Heart

No Mother’s Day celebration would be complete without a heartfelt greeting card, and what better way to create one than through a handmade craft? This activity allows children to design and personalize a card that truly captures their love and appreciation for their mothers.

To make this craft, you’ll need cardstock or construction paper, markers, crayons, stickers, and any other decorative materials you’d like to include.

Begin by encouraging the children to brainstorm and plan the design of their card.

They can start by creating a unique cover or front page, incorporating their mother’s name or a special message. As they move to the inside of the card, the children can express their feelings through heartfelt words, drawings, or even collages using various art materials. Encourage them to include personal details, memories, or reasons why they are grateful for their mothers, making the card a truly meaningful and personalized gift.

The homemade greeting card not only showcases the child’s creativity but also serves as a tangible expression of their love and appreciation. By pouring their hearts into the design and message, children can create a keepsake that their mothers will cherish for years to come. This craft is a wonderful way to foster emotional connections and strengthen the bond between children and their mothers.

Need something even easier and ready to go?

I pulled together a little fun quote picture for you – or for a mom you wish to give to – for today!  No one says it quite like Mark Twain.

Ultimately, these Mother’s Day crafts serve as tangible reminders of the love and gratitude that children feel for their mothers.

By preserving these heartfelt creations, mothers (or aunts, grandmas, or even dads who step into that role) can be reminded of the profound impact they have had on their children’s lives, and the children can take pride in the unique and personal gifts they have crafted.

As families come together to celebrate this special day, may these handmade treasures serve as a testament to the unbreakable bond between mother figures and their children.

Happy Mother’s Day friends!

~Charity

The post Happy Moms (and Filling in for Moms) Day! appeared first on Organized Classroom.

I prefer to try something different when possible, and preferably something that does not involve the art supplies!

As I was trying to think up something that kids would enjoy creating, and something that I would enjoy receiving – I thought of using Wordle to make customized word art, but since that site is no longer up and running, I found WordArt that works just the same!

It seems like every year I was always trying to think of something cute, yet educational-based for my third grade students to create as a nice Mother’s Day gift for their favorite caregivers.

The project needed to be easy (as in not take up a ton of time as the school year was quickly ending), but at the same time I wanted something more thoughtful than a handmade construction paper card.

Luckily, I finally found something that involved learning (hello, adjectives and language arts!), was a fun printable, didn’t cost much to create, and didn’t involve glitter in any way, shape, or form.  Once I found something that was perfect, I knew I had a clear winning idea to use year after year.

You might want to check out:

Need some new ideas for hosting successful classroom celebrations?  This 416 page digital book has you covered! Includes 61 ad-free articles from Organized Classroom, including holidays such as:

• Groundhog Day
• Winter
• Black History
• Valentines Day
• St. Patricks Day
• Earth Day
• Spring
• Mothers Day
• Memorial Day
• Summer
• Independence Day
• Fall
• Halloween
• Thanksgiving
• Christmas

…and even more!

Now available in our Shop!  And the second copy to share with a friend is half price!

See it HERE.

What is Word Art?

It is is nothing more than a word art generator that displays a word collage of words you input into the word picture creator.

Most are free and you can find examples and a free download template below, so make sure to keep reading until the end.

Typically the user writes down answers to a question, such as “What qualities describe my favorite animal?  or food?  or person?  or place?”  A students or teacher will then import all the words into the word map maker and it creates a fun collage of the words, with the most often words appearing larger within the image.

By using adjectives that describe someone specifically, the gift is super personalized and will definitely mean so much more to the recipient.

How to Make a Word Art Mother’s Day Craft

It is super easy to create a word cloud from using words that describe Mom (or whoever the primary caregiver is).

If you are a homeschool parent, make sure to “swap” out kids for a day with another homeschool family to create Mother’s Day gifts. Don’t tell the other parent what their kids are going to make. They will be so surprised and delighted when they open this customized present!

For me, one of the best parts of this project is that the students get to come up with whatever adjectives they think describe their mom (or caregiver) the best.

And then from there, you can expand out to include other synonyms by using reference materials (which is always a handy skill).

Students are the creativity behind the words and the design. That part will be the most fun!

Here is a Word Art Worksheet for Mother’s Day Classroom Craft Idea Template for students or parents to use – hopefully that will make things a little more organized in your classroom as the students are brainstorming ideas.

Have the kids write down 20 words that describe the person they wish to honor for Mother’s Day.  The FIRST word should be the title of the person you are describing.  For example, Mom, Mother, Grandma, Auntie, Uncle, Brother, etc.

Head to Word Art to create your free word cloud.  Add in your words to the online spreadsheet and then change the “size” of the word to the number in parentheses on this worksheet. 

Feel free to customize the shape, fonts, layout, and style for your project.  Download the image file when complete.

Print, cut, and mount on black foam board with student name, date, and grade level on the back. Wrap gift and take home!

Make sure to grab this project planner worksheet for the students to prep their words.

Other Gift Ideas Using Word Cloud Generators

You can also use other word cloud generators to create similar projects.  Each alternative has it’s own pros and cons, so you should experiment with a few of the following to find the online website that meets your needs best!  Make sure to check out:

• Tagxedo:  This site is geared more towards online bloggers or technology users as the data for the word clouds are pulled from blog post tags or even Twitter posts.

It can also work with poems, short stories, or other works of writing, which would be something fun for a creative writing project in the classroom too!

• Tagul (also WordArt):  This one allows you to pick your own colors, upload your own shapes, and really get creative.  This one is not a free option though, so keep that in mind when choosing the best platform for your student projects.

Check out some other fun word cloud gift ideas!

Look at these adorable dolphin bookmarks!  So thoughtful even though each one is not personalized, it makes a wonderful end of the school year gift for sure!

More bookmarks, but this example is personalized for each child, which I love.  Plus, they are so colorful.  Very professional looking and eye catching.

Have students make personalized teacher thank you cards for staff members throughout the building during Teacher Appreciation Week that might not normally get many gifts because they don’t house a homeroom class.

Students can pick their favorite animal or famous person and create a beautiful word of art to match a book report for their gift recipient!

Have students in the class create a fun “All About Me” gift for your Star Student of the Week!

I can envision making personalized puzzles, tshirts, binder covers, and more for special events during the school year – or just because you want students (and their families) to know exactly just how special they are too!

Enjoy and have fun “word art-ing”! I would love to see pictures of some of the finished creations posted to the facebook fan page if you would like to share!

~Charity

The post Simple Word Art Mother’s Day Classroom Craft appeared first on Organized Classroom.

Even if students don’t have a biological mother living at home, chances are they have someone who can fill the role. 

Mother’s Day Games and Ideas

How fun are these?

Mother’s Day trivia with answer key

Wordsearch for Mom

Candle Labels

Breakfast in bed room service card

Printable wrapping paper

LOVE these ideas for Mothers Day games, such as “Don’t say Mom” and “Mother May I?”

Mother’s Day Word Scramble

World’s Best Mother Printable

I always loved when one of my children would bring something home that he or she thought about me – whether it was absolutely absurd or absolutely true.

Finding out what my child thought I was like was always a treat and made me laugh each and every time.

Sometimes just a simple worksheet that I could keep in my scrapbook stash – or snap a picture to add to a digital file – was perfect.

You might want to check out:

Need some new ideas for hosting successful classroom celebrations?  This 416 page digital book has you covered! Includes 61 ad-free articles from Organized Classroom, including holidays such as:

• Groundhog Day
• Winter
• Black History
• Valentines Day
• St. Patricks Day
• Earth Day
• Spring
• Mothers Day
• Memorial Day
• Summer
• Independence Day
• Fall
• Halloween
• Thanksgiving
• Christmas

…and even more!

Now available in our Shop!  And the second copy to share with a friend is half price!

See it HERE.

Could you use a super fun and simple printable for your students to share with the mother figure of their choice?

They could do this as a morning activity, early finishers project, or as a group whole class task together. After everything is filled on, they can color any white space and/or the clip art.

Make sure to grab the freebie printable pack below which includes a page for Mom, Stepmom, Grandma, Aunt, and even Dad. Hopefully there will be at least one that your students can use for that special person in their life.

What other fun activities have you done in your classroom for Mother’s Day? Feel free to leave a comment below.

~Charity

The post Worlds Greatest Mothers Day Printable appeared first on Organized Classroom.

Looking through Pinterest for the one gift idea that is unique, personalized to that specific child, and will be treasured by the important female figure can be a little like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Luckily, I have you covered with a last-minute Mother’s Day necklace pendant that any mother (or aunt, grandma, or primary caregiver) would love!

When I was in second grade, I distinctly remember each student taking turns to line up along a wall that had a single piece of white paper taped to it.  

As we took our place, the teacher would have an overhead projector light shining at the wall.  

Our shadow from the light would cast our profile onto the paper (though it usually took some adjusting of the child, the light, and the paper).

Once the profile was successfully shadowed on to the paper, my teacher would quickly tell you not to move a muscle and run over to the paper on the wall to trace the profile with a marker.  Of course, if you moved, everything had to be started again.  

I could tell that my teacher had done this silhouette activity repeatedly over the years because she was pretty quick to capture the template the first time on most.

Even so, after all the white papers had been done, then she took the time to place them over a sheet of black construction paper to cut them out by hand.  

Finally, she then mounted them on a colored piece of construction paper which had a lovely Mother’s Day poem and we signed it.

The entire process was pretty tedious for kids, let alone all the time it must have taken her to prep the final product!  

But I also remember how much my own mom treasured that silhouette picture of me as a young girl.  I would place bets she still has it in a file somewhere.

You might want to check out:

Need some new ideas for hosting successful classroom celebrations?  This 416 page digital book has you covered! Includes 61 ad-free articles from Organized Classroom, including holidays such as:

• Groundhog Day
• Winter
• Black History
• Valentines Day
• St. Patricks Day
• Earth Day
• Spring
• Mothers Day
• Memorial Day
• Summer
• Independence Day
• Fall
• Halloween
• Thanksgiving
• Christmas

…and even more!

Now available in our Shop!  And the second copy to share with a friend is half price!

See it HERE.

There is just something about diy mother’s day crafts that mean so much more.  Jewelry, such as necklaces, bracelets, and rings, are always popular choices.  

Toss in children’s names and/or birthstones and you probably have a homerun gift for any mom, whether it be a new first-time mom or a seasoned professional, a grandma, or someone stepping in filling the female role for the child.

As I was reminiscing about that memorable student gift from me that year, I realized that today’s teachers just wouldn’t have the time to devote like mine did many eons ago.  

Perhaps though we could use some updated technology beyond the overhead projector to create something just as special in far less time!

DIY Personalized Mother’s Day Silhouette Necklaces

How fun are these personalized jewelry pieces?  You can create necklaces or bracelets in a fraction of the time.

You can go from snapping digital photos like this…

…to creating a template pendant, complete with fun border like this in about 30 seconds flat!

Using just these simple supplies including Shrinky Dinks and PowerPoint, you can make an entire classroom set into a finished product (including wrapped in gift bags) in just a couple hours!

13 Other DIY Custom Mother’s Day Jewelry Options

Here are 13 other necklace and bracelet crafts you can check out as well:

• Mod Podge “Mother” Necklace: This necklace includes a pendant with a zoomed in image of a dictionary definition of Mother
• DIY Mother’s Day Washer Jewelry Tutorial:

• Photo Charm Bracelet:  Have a bunch of images of your students fro throughout the school year?  This could be a way to repurpose them.
• Thread Wrapped Love Necklace:  Students who are particularly crafty could probably whip up this artsy option themselves!
• Bird’s Nest Pendant Necklace:  Each “egg” symbolizes each child – you could even use birthstone colors for the eggs. {image only}

• Frame Necklace:  Have a short quote from each student for their mom?  Create a hanging pendant with it.
• Handmade Mod Podge Necklaces:  Students can decorate their own version and you can seal them in with the Mod Podge sealant.
• Wooden Letters MOM Necklace:  Pretty much like it sounds.
• Celtic Heart Knot Necklace:  Super pretty, but may be more suitable for older students as it looks a bit complicated with the knotting.
• Message in a Bottle:  Adorable keepsake, though the message will be teeny tiny.
• Birthstone Necklace Tutorial:

• Washer Necklaces:  Inexpensive hardware washers are great for painting and looping a necklace cord through as the final product.
• DIY Photo Charm Necklace: Another way to use up those extra student photos you have from throughout the school year.

How to Raise Funds to Create Your Mother’s Day Gifts

Of course, each option listed above will have a supply cost and that money doesn’t float down from the sky.  If your classroom budget is long gone or nonexistent, there are a few ways in which you can secure the supply costs without it coming out of your pocket.

You will first need to choose your project and know exactly how much the whole class supply cost will be to complete the gifts.  Divide that cost by the number of students and you now know how much the per student supply cost is.

1 – Ask the PTO/PTA if they will fund your project.  If you have this awesome parent organization at your school, you probably already realize how awesome they are in aiding the staff on a regular basis.  Many times, they have mini-scholarships to award to those who simply ask.

2 – Ask parents to send in the extra money for each child to complete the gift.  Even if you don’t get 100% of the responses, hopefully the amount left is fairly minimal.  {And we both know teachers typically don’t let students go without if push comes to shove.}  As long as the project amount comes to $5 or less, most parents would happily send in the cost to cover it, especially if they know “Mom” is getting a special gift as a result.

3 – Ask local companies to sponsor the craft.  A great majority of businesses in your local area have additional charitable donation funds set aside that many times don’t ever get used  because no one asks!  shoot off an email or a snail mail letter (with plenty of time) to a local CEO or President, making sure to include your supply list and what the final project will look like when complete, and see who comes forward to help out.  You just might be surprised!

Finding the just-right Mother’s Day gift from your students to their most precious family members doesn’t have to be challenging.  Small and personal items are something most moms, grandmas, or aunts would be thrilled to receive from their precious little one.

When it comes to Mother’s Day in the classroom, simply consider what you or your own important female (or make) figure would enjoy.  That logic can never go wrong.

Have fun creating and feel free to share you favorite Mother’s Day classroom craft idea with us in the comments as well,

~Charity

The post DIY Mother’s Day Silhouette Necklaces appeared first on Organized Classroom.