With Mother’s Day approaching, our minds turn to how best to celebrate the wonderful mothers out there. As your little one grows into a bigger kid, you might start to enjoy some breakfasts in bed (burnt toast?) or lovely gifts from the heart!

Each and every day is a new opportunity to show your love and appreciation for your child and for them to return the feeling. But for now, while your child is still around toddler age, their Mother’s Day gifts (besides hugs and kisses) may need a bit more supervision and assistance from you or another adult.

DIY crafts are a great gift from toddler to mum. You can do these ideas with a toddler to make heartfelt gifts for your partner or a special mum you know, or mums can do these with their little ones to bond, create and enjoy the day together!

Butterfly handprints

You will need:

  • Paper
  • Non-toxic paint
  • Printed photo of your toddler (optional)

Picture the shape of a butterfly’s wings, but made out of four handprints to show the curves of the wings. Dip your little one’s hands into non-toxic paint and help them press their hands against a sheet of paper at a 45-degree angle to the top left, bottom left, top right, and bottom right corner of the page.

You can use multiple colors of paint to create butterflies with multi-colored wings. Let the paint dry, and then you have the option to help your toddler decorate further with markers or glitter. If you choose to, cut out an image of your toddler’s happy face and stick it on top of the butterfly’s body.

Now you’ve got a card from mum’s little butterfly! You could write a message from bub to mum on it too.

‘Reasons I love you’ notebook

You will need:

  • Paper
  • Scissors
  • Crayon/pens/markers/pencils (your choice)
  • A hole punch and some string OR a stapler

A little collection of reasons why mum is the best mum ever is a beautiful keepsake. If you’re helping a toddler make a gift for mum, you can ask the reasons why they love their mum and write these down for them. If you are mum, you can make a booklet of reasons you love your little one at the same time and take it in turns to list reasons you each love one another.

A nice touch is to use paper cut into the shape of a love heart. Stack them up and staple them together, or punch holes on the sides through which to tie a bit of string or ribbon to keep them together.

The same idea works with drawings from your toddler as well.

Mum will want to keep this safe forever!

Finger painting

You will need:

  • Non-toxic paint
  • Paper

Finger painting is a classic! Show your toddler how to dip their fingers into the paint, reminding them to keep each finger for just one color. They can then make any type of art they like! It could be an explosion of colors, or they could even tell a story through their fingerprints.

Once the paint dries, you could give them a marker or crayon to draw faces or any other details on their artwork or story.

This is one for the fridge for sure!

Handprint bouquet

You will need:

  • Paper
  • Non-toxic paint
  • Sticks
  • Tape or glue
  • Ribbon
  • A vase (optional)

A “bouquet” for mum on this special day – but not of flowers!

Using non-toxic paint, help your toddler make handprints onto some paper. Wash well between changing colours. You can use colored paper instead and simply trace around your toddler’s hand.

Cut out each handprint and glue or tape them to the stick of your choice – you could collect wooden sticks from an arts and crafts store, use chopsticks, or anything else long and thin. If you use sticks from outside, make sure they are not dirty and keep an eye on the little one around them.

Now you’ve got a collection of handprint flowers! Tie these together around the stems with a ribbon. You could pop them into a vase or tall container to present them to mum.

Bonus: no watering needed!

Macaroni frame

You will need:

  • Uncooked pasta shapes, e.g. macaroni or bows
  • Non-toxic craft glue
  • A picture frame
  • Glitter or non-toxic paint or dye

Help your little one custom make a photo frame for mum. Paint or dye the pasta pieces, or cover just one side of them with glue and glitter. Once they’re dry, help your toddler stick them onto a pre-brought frame.

Now you have a personalized creation from toddler to mum to frame precious memories.

You can fill the frame with a family photo or picture of the artist themselves!

Happy Mother’s Day

With everything you do for your little one all year round, your love and attention deserve some care and pampering in return on this special day. Your family can celebrate Mother’s Day however works for you!

The above craft ideas are also nice ways to bond any day of the year. We hope your Mother’s Day is full of love and bonding time. From our family to yours, Happy Mother’s Day!