Mother’s Day is a day to honor and thank mothers, grandmothers, and just-like-a-mom women in your circle of family and friends for all that they do in raising children. People for centuries have shown appreciation for mothers in one way or another. The ancient Greeks held festivities to honor Rhea, the mother of the gods, and the early Christians gave tribute to Mary, the mother of Christ. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second of May as a national holiday in honor of mothers.
This Mother’s day, treat Mom to breakfast in bed. Serve her muffins, fresh fruit, coffee, and juice on a tray along with flowers and small gifts. Or have a tea party. Invite family as well as friends who are close to your mom. Cover the table with a festive tablecloth and decorate with our ladybug napkin rings and flower stick in a flower pot (check out KidsSoup.com for directions). Fill a fancy teapot with iced tea and serve tea sandwiches (see recipe below for a simple but delicious sandwich to make) and cookies. To make the occasion even more fun, put on outfits from a dress-up box filled with old party clothes, hats, and costume jewelry or dress up in your "Sunday-go-to-town" clothes.
Cucumber Tea Sandwiches
Thinly slice a seedless cucumber. Spread a thin layer of cream cheese or soft butter on one side of two slices of white bread. Lay cucumber slices on the buttered side of bread. Lightly sprinkle with salt, cover with alfalfa sprouts, and top with the other slice of bread, buttered side down. Carefully remove the crusts from each sandwich and cut the sandwiches in half diagonally and then cut in half again, or cut into decorative heart shapes with a cookie cutter.
Things to Do with Mom
With children, make a list of things that they can do with their moms or other special women in their lives (bake cookies, collect seashells on the beach, plant a vegetable or flower garden, play a board game, dance to music, read a favorite book, watch a funny movie, sing silly songs, pretend to be each other, take a walk around the block or in the park, snuggle up together, make a memory album, etc.).
Who’s the Mom? Flannel Board Game
Collect pictures of mother and baby animals. For durability, cover each picture with clear contact paper or laminate. Attach a piece of Velcro® tape to the back of each picture. Allow children to match the mother animals to the baby animals using the flannel board.
Mother’s Day Concentration Game
Using the same pictures as in the activity above, place mother and baby animal pictures face down on a table or the floor. Have 2–4 children take turns matching the mothers to their babies. If a child matches a pair, he/she takes the pictures. If the match is incorrect, the pictures are turned face down again. Children continue until all the mothers and babies are paired. The winner is the person with the most matches.
I Love You This Much
Trace child's hands on a piece of paper and cut out. Attach the two hands with a long piece of yarn or string (about the length of the child’s arms) and put into an envelope with a note that says, "Mom (or Grandma, etc.), I Love You This Much!"
Small Hand/Big Hand
Help show children the difference between small and big. Have children place their handprint on a piece of paper. Then, have their mothers put their handprint next to theirs. Finally, let children draw other little and big things on the paper. Children can give this to their moms as a little Mother's Day gift.
Mother Says
Take turns with your child playing "Mother Says" (instead of "Simon Says"). Start by giving directions for your child to follow, such as "Mother says wave your hands. Mother says touch your nose. Mother says hop on one foot." Explain that whenever you give a direction without first saying "Mother says," your child should not do the action. If he/she does, then have him/her trade places with you and start giving you the directions. Continue the game as long as you wish.
This Mother’s day, treat Mom to breakfast in bed. Serve her muffins, fresh fruit, coffee, and juice on a tray along with flowers and small gifts. Or have a tea party. Invite family as well as friends who are close to your mom. Cover the table with a festive tablecloth and decorate with our ladybug napkin rings and flower stick in a flower pot (check out KidsSoup.com for directions). Fill a fancy teapot with iced tea and serve tea sandwiches (see recipe below for a simple but delicious sandwich to make) and cookies. To make the occasion even more fun, put on outfits from a dress-up box filled with old party clothes, hats, and costume jewelry or dress up in your "Sunday-go-to-town" clothes.
Cucumber Tea Sandwiches
Thinly slice a seedless cucumber. Spread a thin layer of cream cheese or soft butter on one side of two slices of white bread. Lay cucumber slices on the buttered side of bread. Lightly sprinkle with salt, cover with alfalfa sprouts, and top with the other slice of bread, buttered side down. Carefully remove the crusts from each sandwich and cut the sandwiches in half diagonally and then cut in half again, or cut into decorative heart shapes with a cookie cutter.
Things to Do with Mom
With children, make a list of things that they can do with their moms or other special women in their lives (bake cookies, collect seashells on the beach, plant a vegetable or flower garden, play a board game, dance to music, read a favorite book, watch a funny movie, sing silly songs, pretend to be each other, take a walk around the block or in the park, snuggle up together, make a memory album, etc.).
Who’s the Mom? Flannel Board Game
Collect pictures of mother and baby animals. For durability, cover each picture with clear contact paper or laminate. Attach a piece of Velcro® tape to the back of each picture. Allow children to match the mother animals to the baby animals using the flannel board.
Mother’s Day Concentration Game
Using the same pictures as in the activity above, place mother and baby animal pictures face down on a table or the floor. Have 2–4 children take turns matching the mothers to their babies. If a child matches a pair, he/she takes the pictures. If the match is incorrect, the pictures are turned face down again. Children continue until all the mothers and babies are paired. The winner is the person with the most matches.
I Love You This Much
Trace child's hands on a piece of paper and cut out. Attach the two hands with a long piece of yarn or string (about the length of the child’s arms) and put into an envelope with a note that says, "Mom (or Grandma, etc.), I Love You This Much!"
Small Hand/Big Hand
Help show children the difference between small and big. Have children place their handprint on a piece of paper. Then, have their mothers put their handprint next to theirs. Finally, let children draw other little and big things on the paper. Children can give this to their moms as a little Mother's Day gift.
Mother Says
Take turns with your child playing "Mother Says" (instead of "Simon Says"). Start by giving directions for your child to follow, such as "Mother says wave your hands. Mother says touch your nose. Mother says hop on one foot." Explain that whenever you give a direction without first saying "Mother says," your child should not do the action. If he/she does, then have him/her trade places with you and start giving you the directions. Continue the game as long as you wish.
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