Easy Mother’s Day Gifts for Kids to Make

Of course it’s impossible to generalize what moms want for Mother’s Day (I have always said I wanted a nap), but I think it’s fair to say most moms would like getting a gift that their kid had a hand in making. Here are some easy Mother’s Day gifts that kids can make or help with, that can be made one kid or a group of kids at a time.

We’ve already covered the cuteness of handprint and fingerprint crafts for parents, but this fingerprint heart necklace from Rhythms of Play is another sweet take on that theme. You might not have these supplies on hand if you’re not a big jewelry maker but it should be pretty easy to find them at a big box craft store or online.

Another cute idea for a necklace or keychain is to have kids draw on shrink plastic and make that into a pendant or a keychain loop. This is a pretty quick and easy project and the drawing can have to do with Mother’s Day or not, it would still be special for a mom or grandparent. Get the instructions from Kindergarten Chaos.

Print a special photo and give mom a place to display it with this easy painted rock photo holder from Buggy and Buddy. Little kids can paint the rock and thread the beads while an adult assembles the holder, or older kids can do this whole project themselves.

How about an upcycled planter? These painted can plant holders from the Best Ideas for Kids are easy to make — just make sure the can doesn’t have any sharp bits before you give it to a kiddo to paint. (Of course an adult will need to drill the drain holes as well.)

Or how about a pretty painted Mason jar? Moms can always find a use for a jar. I have one my daughter painted with a handprint on it, or you can make this use jar votive holder from I Heart Arts and Crafts. The heart shape is super cute but you can do stripes or any other simple shape you like.

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Handprint and Fingerprint Crafts for Mother's Day

We don’t really have any travel to speak of planned this summer, and my daughter is old enough that any lengthy time in the car is usually spent with an audiobook or watching videos. But I remember the struggle of keeping little kids entertained on long trips, especially if you don’t want them on a screen the whole time.

I recently saw this post from Creating Really Awesome Fun Things, which is a roundup of 26 road trip games, ideas and activities that kids can do. From stringing beads onto pipe cleaners to felt busy boards, travel journals and using a pizza box to contain colors, trains (or cars) and more, there are lots of fun and easy ideas here.

I’m a big fan of printable road trip activities, and even have a whole post all about printables for road trips. I used to always do some kind of license plate game, a map, mazes and I-spy style scavenger hunts, which are fun for everyone in the car to play along with. (You can also find some patriotic road trip mazes here.) If your road trip includes a camping trip, check out these camping themed printable games and activities.

Productive Pete has a super cute map of the United States (pictured above) that kids can use in lots of different ways while on the road. They can color the states you travel through, or all the states they’ve ever visited, or use it to give the license plate game an extra challenge as they try to find each state on the map. You can quiz older kids on the state capitols, which you might need to brush up on yourself (guilty!).

Do you have particular games or activities that you always have on hand when you are doing a road trip with kids? I would love to hear about them!

[Photo: Productive Pete.]

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