Mothers Day Mania!

The clocks are ticking!  Has it been CRAZY in your classroom?  We are busy, busy, busy with Mothers Day Preparations, NWEA testing, and end of the year program preparations. Teacher Appreciation week couldn't have been planned at a better time. The PTA has been so good to us. They started the week out by decorating our doors.  They look SO cute! 

Here are a few photos of how our mothers day magnets turned out and a Mothers Day Poem freebie.  Several weeks ago I posted a demo of our mother days gift and a freebie template (click here for the link to the post). 

 Since then I wrote this poem to accompany the gifts. Tomorrow we're going to make Today we made cards with the poem inside.  I was so pleased and impressed with how well the kids did with the cards - I honestly was skeptical going into it thinking "Rolling TONS of 1/4 inch thin strips of paper around a toothpick and first graders - am I insane?"  Of course the pictures I chose are the some of the better ones.... they didn't all turn out this cute. :)  But, anyway, feel free to pin or download and use the poem, please just cite me if you do.  (click the poem picture to download).

Enjoy!

Mother's & Father's Day Craftivity Freebie

They're not quite dry in this picture, so the colors aren't as bright & vibrant as when finished,
 plus my lighting was terrible. :(

 Every year I have this dilemma about what to have my students give their moms for Mother's Day.  I always want something sentimental, but also not something tacky that parents will want to throw away but feel obligated to keep.  I want something that they'll want to display.  In past years I've had my kiddos make bead bracelets, or paint miniature birdhouses, but I taught at a private school which provided a fund alloting a few dollars per child specifically for Mother's day, so this year it was the same gig just on a tighter budget.  I had a student give me these magnets for Valentines Day this year, and they were easily my favorite gift.

 It got me to thinking, "We could make magnets for Mother's Day!"  And they're SO cheap to make.  My dad and nephew had a birthday recently, so I did a trial run.  Here's what I did:

1. Purchased:

• glass beads at the Dollar Store (~30-40/package/$1) 

• mini cellophane bags (40/$1)

• magnets from the local craft store using a 40% off coupon (55 magnets/$3 w/ coupon). 

• I already had Modge Podge.

Total cost to make 150 magnets (~5 or 6/student): $12.  Talk about a deal!

2.  Typed up this template - good for Moms & Dads, Mother's & Father's Day (Get it for FREE HeRe!)

3. Colored the Background and letters (I used colored colored pens and pencils on the first one, and highlighters on the 2nd)

4. Traced the beads onto the words/pictures that I chose to use, then cut them out.


5. Painted Modge Podge onto the back of the bead, then stuck the paper on, and painted over the back of it too.  Then I let them dry for a while (couple of hours) before adhering the magnets.

I have magnetic sheets, and they hold up the magnets, but you cannot use the magnets to hang anything, so I recommend buying the round magnets.  Also, I just free-handed the Jackson letters with a Sharpie for my recently-turned-six year old nephew. He LOVED rearranging the letters to make other words out of his name, and putting them in order. A great literacy activity for young kids!  I think sometime I might make an alphabet!


I haven't quite decided if I'm going to have my students use the template or just write the letters and draw pictures like my student did for Valentines Day, but now if you want to, you can do it too!  I think they're pretty darn cute.

One more thing... I work with the Youth/Young Women at my church, and on Sunday I taught a lesson about loving/respecting/supporting our Fathers.  At the end of the lesson I had each girl make a card for their dad.  I usually make these with my students for Father's Day with my students during summer school.  They're super cute and easy to make.  I know father's day is a few months away still, but now you have a couple of ideas!