Mothers’ Day

Kids art, craft and activities for Mothers' Day

How amazing are mothers!

Leading into Mothers' Day, the last thing mothers want to do is think about planning more activities for kids to do. You want to hope that dads or partners are going to step up and organise something special just for you. That could be the best Mothers Day gift - timeout from having to BE a mother with all the extra demands at the moment! Of course, there are many different family situations and structures with variations on who has what responsibilities. We may also be concerned about and caring more for our grandmothers, isolated, and possibly alone. 

All Mother Figures

To all mothers, grandmothers, mother figures… Your role in the lives of children is the key to their future, the people they will be. As hard as this can be at times, your patience, understanding, strength, guidance, role-modelling, positivity, humour, integrity, compassion… (you don’t realise how wonderful you are sometimes!) all wrapped up into a bundle that is love. The love a mother has for her children and her children’s children is enduring: we hold their hands for a short while, but their hearts forever. Check out our "Mothers' Day" artworks for kids here. Or sign up here

Grandma 

These matriarchs are the ones who will especially appreciate receiving something created by their grandchildren and great-grandchildren. So hopefully your Mothers' Day is being taken care of (!) but by working on activities with children that encourage them to reflect on how wonderful their grandmother is and why there may be an opportunity in there for some reflections by them on you as their mother. What does it mean to be a mother? What does it involve? You could talk about what they love doing and then what you love doing. What are their favourite animals and what are yours? What has been their best holiday and why? What has been yours and why? What might grandma’s holidays have been like? What is something the children love that they could draw alongside something grandma loves? If you can send it old-school through the post, that would be special. Or a drive-by on Mothers' Day with poster-size drawings showing them how much they are loved.
Try one of these "grandparent" kids art lessons. Or sign up here

For Teachers

As a teacher, it’s a great time to be engaging students in art activities with a focus audience, even if it is just encouraging children to make their own Mothers' Day card. (Search Artventure for ‘mother’ or perhaps ‘flower’ to add a picture to a card.) There can be a flurry of activity as children make possibly weird but always wonderful crafty gifts for mum, or whoever the mother figure is in their life. If you don't have an account you can sign up here.

Gifts 

One of my favourite gifts is a handprint from my 4-year-old daughter, pressed into an oval piece of clay hung with a small strip of leather. Similarly, I have a framed artwork made up of hand and footprints of my little ones in their preschool days. I guess this is a physical reminder of them as toddlers: obviously fond memories. But I’ve loved all sorts of artworks created for me: plates with kids' drawings, handmade clay bowls, illustrated recipe books of family favourites, bookmarks with crazy designs, handmade strings of jewellery… Here are just a couple of suggested activities. 

SALT DOUGH Handprints 

This is a common approach used to create artefacts like my clay handprint.

Ingredients
# 1 cup of plain flour
# 1 cup refined salt (table salt)
# ½ cup water
# 1 tbsp oil (optional)
# food colouring (optional) 

Method
# Add water slowly to mixed flour and salt
# Knead into a ball and roll to about 1cm thick
# Use a bowl to cut a circular shape just bigger than the child’s hand
# Get the child to press their hand onto the circle of dough
# Use a skewer to create a hole for hanging (not too close to the edge)
# Air dry for a day or bake in the oven at 120 C for perhaps 2 hours (depends on thickness)
# Optional - paint the handprint or the whole surface

ART ON A PLATE

These are mementos that the children love using themselves: a snapshot of their artistic skills at a point in time, preserved. There are websites that provide templates or drawing size specifications that are used. Then the children’s artwork is uploaded, the plate/s made and resulting gifts sent to you. Ask the children which is a favourite Artventure drawing. See if they can produce this within the confines of the specified plate dimensions. A great way to immortalise their art! 

Personal Note 

As a mother, I do not need acknowledgment on Mothers' Day as I have the love of my children every day. But some flowers, chocolates, a clean and tidy house, a shoulder/neck massage, a handmade card with kids' artwork… always appreciated!! I will, however, try to do something a bit different and special for my mum and ensure I tell her again, 'I love you'!

Go mums! Happy Mothers' Day!

Erica
Teacher and Artventure Blogger
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