There might be nothing quite as beautiful as watching the pure and innocent love that a child has for their mother turn into a heartfelt and perfectly imperfect craft. These gifts are so precious for that exact reason: they are born out of love and affection for one of the most important figures in their lives and even though they aren’t perfect, they kind of are. Seeing the joy kids get out of making and delivering these crafts and the pleasure mothers get out of receiving them is the reason we decided to put together the essential list of the most adorable DIY Mother’s Day crafts for toddlers and babies.
Whether you choose the medium of paint, playdough, paper, or using the great outdoors for inspiration, you can be sure that doing Mother’s Day kids crafts with your little ones is a sure way to make long-lasting and beautiful memories.
Mother’s Day 2024
Kids have always appreciated the preparation, planning, and execution that their mothers do for them, even though they don’t say it that way. They show it in the smile they give when they get their favorite lunch, and the yelp of excitement when Mom pulls out the teddy they thought they forgot at home or in the moan of comfort as they slip into warm pajamas out of the dryer.
Mother’s Day formalized this and gave mothers their own dedicated day so that the world could recognize how important they are in the lives of their children. A daughter to an amazing woman, Anna Jarvis decided to campaign for the creation of Mother’s Day after her mother died in 1905, and she succeeded. Mother’s Day was born and every year since, we celebrate mothers across the country. This year, Mother’s Day falls on Sunday, May 12th.
Why Mother’s Day Toddler Crafts Are So Amazing
There is nothing more personal than a handmade gift, delivered to a well-deserving mother by the immensely proud artisan that made it. They pour everything they have into these gifts, making sure that their Mom gets only the best, most amazing present they’ve ever received. That doesn’t mean that they are flawless! In fact, they’re almost always full of “flaws”, which is what makes them perfect.
When doing Mother’s Day crafts with your kids, remember that the memories you make and the affection that is built with your kids while making toddler Mother’s Day crafts is the real gift, and the gift itself is just the cherry on top!
Mother’s Day Kids Crafts: Endless Options
How do you choose the best Mother’s Day toddler crafts to do with your kids? While there are no wrong answers, we suggest that you use safe, non-toxic materials for everyone’s safety and that you choose projects that you think your kids will have fun with. We have already made an extensive list of other potential gift ideas for Mother’s Day but here, we wanted to focus on DIY gifts that get everyone involved and creating! What are these amazing, DIY Mother’s Day gift and craft ideas?
Hand-Painted Art
Hand painting is at the top of almost every list of crafts because it is so much fun! Kids love it and while parents may not enjoy the clean-up, they benefit from the beautiful creations at the end of it all. Simply call up a few mothers you know and arrange for a time that works for everyone to get together in a place that can accommodate a large group. If you are doing it at home with only your kids, clear off some space either on the floor or on the table, lay out the paint, and get started!
Non-toxic, bright-colored paints are ideal for this type of project. Encourage your kids to use their imaginations and their feelings to help guide their hands as they make wonderful hand-painted creations. What kind of hand-painting art can they do?
Handprint Bouquet Painting
Handprint bouquets are beautifully painted pictures where kids place their handprints on a piece of paper or canvas in paint and use their fingertips as flower stalks, painting little flowers on the ends of each. Amazing!
Fingerprint Heart Canvas
By using an inkpad or a thin paint, kids can create fingerprint hearts by overlaying two fingerprints, with the bottoms touching and the tops pointing out to either side, creating a heart shape!
Hand-Painted Rocks
Kids are great at finding rocks! Use that skill to find some unique rocks and have them paint them, producing, and array of colorful stone art pieces.
Hand Painted Pot for Plants
For a long-lasting gift, get your kids to paint a flower pot that you can then plant a flower or plant in and have your kids help feed it. This way, their gift continues to be a part of your family’s life for weeks and months, even years to come.
Hand Painted Photo Frame
For another craft idea, get your kids to paint a photo frame. Next, take a picture and have that picture developed. Put that picture in your painted frame, crystalizing the memory forever!
Playdough Art
Kids love playdough for many reasons. It’s colorful, it can become anything you want, and when you are bored, you can make it into anything else. As a Mother’s Day preschool craft, playdough art is among the very best options you can choose.
Pick a handful of colors, give your kids a few ideas, and let them loose to create their masterpieces. What are some options to choose from?
Flower Impressions
Get your kids to choose their colors and help them make flower shapes, using different colors for the stalks and the petals, combining as many colors as they feel is appropriate to get the perfect flower.
Heart-Shaped Ornaments
Since Mother’s Day is about expressing what is in their hearts, help your kids make heart-shaped ornaments of all sorts of sizes and colors, helping them to mold the heart shape at first but eventually letting them do it for themselves.
Playdough Portrait
Can they make a portrait of Mom with playdough? It is worth a test to see! Give them an example of a portrait made out of playdough and let them loose to recreate a playdough version of Mama. It is amazing the type of portraits you will end up with after this project!
Animal Figures
Almost every kid has a favorite animal. In this Mother’s Day kid’s craft, encourage them to recreate their favorite animal with as much detail as they can remember and watch the magic happen!
Pasta Necklace
Playdough pasta anyone? You can make playdough macaroni and spaghetti and turn these into unique necklaces for the whole family. Now, don’t expect this jewelry to be handed down as an heirloom but they are fun while they last!
Paper Art
Another way to build Mother’s Day crafts for babies and toddlers is to use paper as the foundation of their creations. Remember, when using paper there is the danger of paper cuts and the need to use scissors so caution is required when making paper art.
Be sure that scissors are never left unattended around little kids and that adults are present at all times when making paper arts and crafts. What can these kids make with paper and a little imagination?
Love Heart Collage
By cutting out dozens of tiny little paper hearts (of varying colors out of construction paper, of course), they can be glued in the shape of a giant heart, making it a heart made of smaller hearts.
Paper Crown
Cutting a crown out of a single piece of paper is easy. Simply draw the peaks and spires of a crown on a flat piece of paper, using the flat side of the paper as the base of the crown. Cut it out and tape it together on the ends and voila, Mother’s Day crown!
Colorful Paper Chains
Cut strips of paper about an inch wide and 3 or 4 inches long. Glue or tape the ends together to make a circle and continue that process, gluing one circle to another until you make a paper chain.
Paper Bag Puppets
All you need is a paper bag and a marker for this! You put the bag on your hands and draw a face, making yourself a Mother’s Day puppet. Of course, you will likely want to add sparkles, tassels for hair, and maybe even some googly eyes to make the look complete.
Bookmark Beauties
Nothing says “I Love You” like a bookmark. Cut a thin strip of paper, add on a string, or tassel and decorate your bookmark. This Mother’s Day toddler craft can be even used as a gift for Grandma, Aunty, and even your kids’ friends!
Nature Art
No need to worry about providing materials because Mother Nature provides them for you! By going outside and doing a little searching (which is a fun and exciting adventure all on its own), you can find everything you need to make some incredibly simple yet beautiful Mother’s Day kids crafts. What kind of crafts?
Pinecone Rose
Pinecone roses are made by gathering pinecones, as well as some flexible sticks about the thickness of a flower stem. Stick the pinecone to the top of the stick for a wonderful, simple pinecone rose.
Nature Collage
Leaves, flowers, grass, pebbles, pinecones, and needles can all be used to make nature collages. First, collect your material from outside. Next, apply glue to a piece of paper. Finally, glue your pieces of nature to the paper for a finished project worthy of a museum gallery.
Leaf Rubbing Art
Finally, by rubbing a leaf under a sheet of paper with a crayon, you can transfer the relief from the leaf to the paper, creating a striking piece of leaf-rubbing art.
Choose Projects Based on the Skill and Ability Levels of Your Kids
Not all kids will be at the same level when creating these art pieces so it is important to tailor the activities to their skill set and level of ability so that they can have fun and feel accomplished as their creations come together. For most of these projects, parents should stay close and be hands-on to help their kids make wonderful art pieces for their mothers.
Frequent breaks are good to help these projects get to completion! Singing, dancing, and looking at sound books, like Mommy I Love You and Dance can be just the break they need before finishing their projects.
The Journey is the Destination
Remember, these projects are meant to be an exciting, memory-building journey for you and your kids. Mother’s Day crafts for toddlers are designed to bring families together and enjoy time in each other’s company while creating beautiful pieces of art. There is no need to rush, so savor every moment. Happy Mother’s Day!