Themes & Activities

Mother's Day
Open thematic poster

CHALLENGE OF THE WEEK, MONTH, YEAR
The challenge for this Mother's Day week: potty training. We have a useful tool for potty training over a seven day p or invite parents to become educatall members and benefit from the material full-eriod. It is great for children who are ready! (Open potty training chart boy or girl) Print and laminate. You can send it home for weekendstime too! You will also find a diploma in the educatall club. (Open potty training diploma) Print a copy for all children who succeed!

CIRCLE TIME
Have children bring a picture of their mother and an object which belongs to her to the daycare. Organize a "Mommy corner" with the objects and pictures. Children guess which picture is each friend's mother.

Suggestions for discussion:

Describe your mommy.
What do mothers do during the day?
What do you love most about your mommy?
What is your mother's name? What is your grandmother's name?
What does your mommy love? What is her favourite meal? What is her favourite drink?
What is your mommy's job?
Do you have a special name for your mommy?

AREA SETUP
Set up your "Mommy corner". A few thematic suggestions are: necklaces, mirrors, makeup, dresses, scarves, hats, dolls, baby bottles, tea sets, aprons, dishes, gardening tools, knitting, embroidery, etc.

PICTURE GAME

The pictures may be used as a memory game or to spark a conversation with the group. Use them to decorate the daycare or a specific thematic corner. (Open picture game - Mother's Day) Print, laminate, and store in a "Ziploc" bag or in your thematic bins.

ACTIVITY SHEETS
Acitivity sheets are suggested for each theme. Print and follow instructions. (Open activity sheet - Mother's Day)

WORD FLASHCARDS

The flashcards may be used during circle time to spark a conversation or in your reading and writing area. They may also be used to identify your thematic bins. (Open word flashcards - Mother's Day) Mommy, necklace, perfume, dress, baby, grandmother, dishes, laundry, cleaning, makeup, cake, purse

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND MOTOR SKILLS

Mommy, mommy, I am hungry!
Deposit plastic food, dishes, and utensils in your kitchen area. Select one child to play the role of the mother. This child serves the other children whatever they would like to eat for dinner.

Mommy does the dishes
Prepare a water table or a bin filled with water. Add sponges and dishwashing liquid. Have children wash the plastic dishes in the kitchen area.

Mommy does the laundry
Set a laundry basket filled with clean clothes on the floor. It could contain facecloths, small socks, etc. Have children fold the items.

Mommy does the cleaning
Children love cleaning. Provide sponges, a feather duster, wet towels, etc. Use this time to disinfect the daycare toys with the children.

Mommy washes the baby
Children wash dolls in the bathtub or in a bin filled with water. When they are done, they can dry them off and dress them for bedtime.

Mommy takes care of scrapes and cuts
For this activity, purchase a large quantity of small bandages. Children will love covering dolls' wounds.

Mommy is beautiful
Add clothing and accessories mothers wear to the dress-up corner. Include necklaces, dresses, handbags, shoes, scarves, etc. For the occasion, you may want to add makeup such as lipstick (designed for children) and various brushes for blush, etc.

Mommy runs errands
Collect empty food boxes. Deposit them throughout the daycare. Give each child a grocery bag and have them shop for groceries.

Mommy rocks the baby
Offer each child a stuffed animal or a doll. Play soft music and have the group rock their baby. Variation: Children take turns rocking their baby.

Mommy says
This is a variation of the well-known "Simon Says" game. Call out instructions. Children must act out your instructions only if you say "Mommy says", at the beginning of your sentence. Examples of actions could be, "go to sleep", "brush your teeth", "wash your hands", etc. If you do not say "Mommy says" first, the children mustn't move.

My mommy's name is...
The daycare worker calls out different names. When children hear their mother's name, they must run to a predetermined spot.

Mommy, may I?
Call out the children's names one at a time. When you say their name, children ask your permission to move like a certain animal. For example: "Mommy may I act like a frog?" If you agree, the child hops like a frog until you call out his name again. You may also decide to say, "Of course not, you belong to the dog family." In this case, the child must walk like a dog and bark. Have children act like chickens, snakes, horses, kangaroos, etc.

Mommy's kitchen
Transform your modeling dough area into a kitchen. Add accessories such as cookie cutters, dishes, and utensils to make delicious meals just like Mommy.

OUTDOOR ACTIVITIE

My mommy
Have children draw their mothers using sidewalk chalk. When the mothers arrive at the end of the day, children can have them guess which drawing represents them.

Baby stroll
Have each child choose a doll stroller and a baby. Everyone takes their baby for a walk.

The clothesline
Tie your jumping ropes together to resemble a long clothesline. Bring a laundry basket filled with facecloths and doll clothing outdoors. Children hang laundry on the clothesline.

SOCIAL AND MORAL ACTIVITIE

Gentle voice
Record children singing songs and saying kind words on an audio cassette or CD. Have children wrap their cassette or CD and present them to their mothers for Mother's Day.

Mommy, please help me
Remove children's socks. Children sit two by two. One child plays the role of the mother and puts the other child's socks back on.

Call Mommy
Each child makes a surprise phone call to his mother. If this is not possible, you may have children leave a message on the answering machine at home.

Mommy Day
Invite children to bring one of their mother's accessories to the daycare: a necklace, a scarf, a hat, etc. Children can wear it for the day.

Box full of kisses
Have each child decorate a small cardboard box, a medicine bottle, or a 35mm film container. Once this is done, they open the container and add kisses galore. Tell them to hurry and close it before they fly out. At the end of the day, they can give their box full of kisses to their mothers.

CULINARY ACTIVITIE

Sweet treats
Prepare a special treat with the group each day. Children will be proud to present them to their mother. Heart-shaped cookies, miniature muffins with coloured icing, and small chocolates are just a few suggestions.

A special snack
Ask each mother to prepare something special for snack time. Children will be proud to share their mothers' treats with their friends.

A necklace for Mommy
Prepare modeling dough/compound. Have children shape the dough into heart shapes. Use a straw to punch a hole at the top of the hearts. Bake and cool the hearts. Children paint them as they wish. Thread yarn or string through the hole. Variation: You may use painted pasta instead of dough.

ARTS & CRAFT

Jewellery for Mommy
(Print jewel models) Cut a coloured strip of paper (2cm wide) for each child. Using glue, children overlap the jewels on the strip of paper. Suggest they alternate colors.

A mommy puppet
Use a plastic spoon. Cut a face out of construction paper and attach it to the round part of the spoon. Children add clothing made from fabric or paper.

MOTHER'S DAY GIFT IDEA

Flowers for Mommy

Make flowers for mothers. You will need tissue paper, construction paper, and different supports for stems (straws, wooden sticks, paper towel rolls). Provide children with different recycled materials.

A garden for Mommy
Set items such as pressed flowers, branches, and pinecones on the table. Give each child a Styrofoam block. They can use the material to create a garden for a gift.

A masterpiece for Mommy
Children make a drawing or a painting for their mommy. (Open frame model) Print, trace onto heavy cardboard, cut out, and decorate. Frame the drawing or painting. Children will have a masterpiece for their mothers.

Handprints and footprints
It's a Mother's Day ritual. Make impressions of children's hands or feet by pressing them into plaster, dough, or paint). Make a hole at the top for mothers to hang the prints. Inscribe or engrave children's names as well as their ages at the bottom of each print to ensure they will be souvenirs of a precise period of the children's lives. Once dry, children may want to paint their prints.

Sunflower needle holder
Cover a yogurt container with green felt. Cut petals out of yellow felt and glue them to the inside edge of the container. Cover a Styrofoam ball with brown felt and secure with a rubber band. Place the ball in the container. Mommies will never lose needles again. They can pin needles into the center of their sunflowers.

Coasters
Use cork squares. Children each glue a picture (or drawing) of themselves onto their square with "Mod Podge". When they are done, add a coat of varnish for them.

Perfumed sachets
Provide each child with a piece of lace or old curtain fabric. Deposit potpourri in the center and tie with pretty ribbon.

Placemat for Mommy
Have children draw on large pieces of paper. Laminate.

Personalized bookmarks
(Open Mother's Day bookmark) Photograph children and print the pictures. Have children decorate their bookmark and glue their picture to them. Laminate. Mothers will love this practical gift.

MOTHER'S DAY CARD IDEAS

A card for Mommy
Make greeting cards for mommies. You will need construction paper, tissue paper, felt, and lace.

A generation card
Ask children to bring pictures to the daycare. If possible they could bring four pictures in all, one of themselves, one of their mothers, one of their grandmothers, and one of their great grandmothers. Glue the pictures onto cardboard and fold in two to form a card. Cover with "Mac-tack". Write a message inside the card or use a printable greeting (Open printable greetings).

Invitation
Prepare invitations for the Mother's Day breakfast and mail them with the children.

A special letter
Children craft beautiful post cards for their mothers. Mail them with the children. Mothers will be pleasantly surprised!

Best Mommy Diploma
Make a card resembling a diploma. (Open Best Mommy Diploma) Have children draw their fondest memory involving their mothers or simply have them draw what they love most about their mothers: She makes the best spaghetti, she tells the best stories, she sings the best songs, she gives the best hugs...They can verbalize their thoughts for you to inscribe them on the diplomas. The diplomas may be handed out at the Mother's Day breakfast.

COLORING PAGES
(Open coloring book theme - Mother's Day)

SONGS & RHYMES

Mommy

(Sung to B-I-N-G-O)
By: Patricia Morrison

There is a person so special
And Mommy is her name-o
M-O-M-M-Y
M-O-M-M-Y
M-O-M-M-Y

And Mommy is her name-o

She gives the very best of hugs
And Mommy is her name-o
M-O-M-M-Y
M-O-M-M-Y
M-O-M-M-Y

And Mommy is her name-o

She loves me more than anything
And Mommy is her name-o
M-O-M-M-Y
M-O-M-M-Y
M-O-M-M-Y

And Mommy is her name-o

I love you
by: Patricia Morrison

Mommy you're special
Mommy you're nice
For all you do
I love you

SUGGESTION OF THE WEEK

Special Mother's Day Breakfast

(Open perpetual calendar - Mother's Day Breakfast) Print, laminate, and display the date to ensure mothers have ample time to rearrange their schedules.

We suggest you organize, with the help of the group, a special breakfast to honour the mothers. It will be a busy week what with so many things to prepare to make this perfect! Children shall be cooks. They will begin by making their chef hats and decorating a large tablecloth as a group. Why not prepare a small show for the mothers to enjoy at the end of the breakfast?

Chef's hat
Each child decorates two strips of heavy white paper with sparkles and crayons. Measure children's heads and staple the two strips together accordingly. Staple a small white garbage bag all the way around the contour of the hat. Children may wear their chef hat during the breakfast.

A beautiful table
Presentation is important for such an important breakfast! You need a centerpiece, a nice tablecloth, and maybe hearts left over from Valentine's Day or simply add flowers. Purchase a white paper tablecloth. Have children decorate it. Create various kinds of flowers (tissue paper, fabric, Kleenexes, plastic, etc.) and display them in a centerpiece by pricking them into a Styrofoam block or in a vase.

Preparation of the show

Set up a theatre area to present the show. A simple way to create a great décor is to paint a large piece of cardboard (an appliance box) green. Punch small holes and insert flowers the children made. Children may stand in front of this background to recite a poem or sing a song. At the end of the recital, children can pick flowers off the décor to make a bouquet for their mother. Adding a small kiss on the cheek will steal the show for sure! For costumes, children can make flower hats and glasses. (Open flower hat) and (Open flower glasses). Print and assemble. Practice your show every day. Practice makes perfect!

Poem suggestion:

Mommy you're special
Mommy you're nice
For all you do
I love you

Activities during the breakfast
Hunt & Seek my child
A mother sits blindfolded.

Children take turns standing in front of the mother

who tries to recognize her own child by touching the faces.

Menu ideas for the Mother's Day breakfast
The important thing is to involve children as much as possible.

Fruit Brochettes
Cut a variety of fruit. Display on a plate. Children slide the pieces onto skewers for their mommy.

Crêpes Suzette
Purchase crêpes, whipped cream, and berries. Children decorate their mother's crêpe.

A necklace for Mommy
Each child makes a necklace for his mother. Provide them with a bowl of "Froot Loops" cereal. Children thread them onto a piece of string liquorice.

Have nice day!

Educatall team

Our job is to make yours easier. Do not hesitate to suggest themes you would like to see us develop. Let us know of any printable documents or tools which could be useful. Send us your comments and suggestions!

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