Mother's Day Project Pack!

A collection of my three FAVORITE Mother's Day projects from the past 12 years! Guaranteed to become a timeless treasure for the special mom or grandma in your student's life! Everything you need to get started is right here!

There are so many sweet projects you can do with your little ones to help them show their love and appreciation for the special ladies in their lives! I’ve done these with Kindergarten and 1st graders, but I’m sure they’d work for a little older kids, too. You could choose your favorite or do them all… it’s totally up to you. The kids will love being able to do something special for their mom or grandma…. And every one of these is sure to become a treasure that she will keep forever.

I believe in giving teacher's lots of styling options (so you can choose why you like AND what works best for your kids!) so you'll see you have a couple different choices for what you'd like to print to go along with each individual project.

Here is a quick list of the three projects:

1. The “I love you to pieces” puzzle piece pin project (directions and photos to guide you through how to make this adorable craft... and also several printables you can use to display and give it.)

Check it out!  I'm wearing the pin here... made by my sweet baby, Elli!  

2. The CLASSIC “My Special Mother” fill-in-the-blank writing and picture project (Prepare to giggle over the things kids say for this and also the book project below! Precious... and oh, so simple for you.)  Did you make something like this for your mom when you were little?  I know I did and my mom still has it somewhere!  I just did this activity with my class today and here are a few samples for you to smile about.... AND I even added another line to my TpT file after we did this-- the latest version also lets them have a chance to say how mom likes to relax... lol. THAT could be funny!  :) 

This mom wouldn't even be traded for a monkey!  Wow! :)

LOVE this sweet artwork-- look at their shirts!

"She is as pretty as a bride!"

This momma couldn't even be traded for donuts!  :)

I wouldn't trade my mother for a penny.  Yesssss!

"She weighs a few pounds, I wouldn't trade her for a stuffed animal, and she's like a flower blooming in the Spring."  Oh- and look at their shirts!  "dodr" and "mom"  <3

"She is as pretty as a ladybug and I wouldn't trade her for a unicorn!"

To wrap it up, we just folded the page in half and put some words and hearts on the front...

3. The “All About My Mom” book project (Again, easy peasy to print and use! Kids fill in the blanks and draw pictures to finish phrases like "If my mom were a super hero she would be ________ because _______" or "If my mom were an animal she would be a __________ because ___________.")

Flip through them and see what would work best with your students and the time you have! Oh, and note that all of the projects come with pages that say "grandma" or "grandmother" as well as "mom" or "mother." Options for everyone!

Happy Mother’s Day! Thanks for stopping by!

Spicin it up with a little Espanol!

 The story from our LA curriculum form a few weeks ago was all about "Abuela" so we had a blast brushing up on our Spanish!  The kids loved learning new words and illustrating them in this Spanish book I created!  It includes a cute rainbow coloring page about colors, a connect the words/numbers page about numbers 1-5 and 8 awesome pages to help kids learn 36 useful Spanish words! Each page includes 4 words and definitions (so you don't have to guess if you're not a Spanish expert yourself!) that are all organized into a nice, neat category: 

2 pages about people: grandmother, grandfather, mom, dad, friend, teacher, sister, brother
animals: cat, dog, bird, bear
things: pencil, jacket, book, house
feelings: I love you, I like it, good, bad
food: apple, corn, chicken, milk
body parts: head, eyes, ears, mouth
phrases: good morning, good night, happy birthday, and let's go
Each word or phrase is in a box with enough room for students to draw a little illustration to help them remember what the word means. We did about 2 pages a day and they begged for more.  Don't you just LOVE Kindergarten illustrations??

the "ears" here are too funny.  :)

In class, we also threw in a bunch of Dr. Jean goodness... her "Hand on My Head" song is my favorite... and she even has her entire Ole!  Ole!  Ole! CD with all kinds of fun Spanish songs.  If you aren't familiar with those, you should check them out!   Just wanted to share cause with Cinco de Mayo creeping up, this might make your 1st week of May extra fun.  :)  Adios!

Hello? Spring? Are you there?

Hey!   Even though the first day of Spring was weeks ago, it somehow doesn't seem too late to share this... so here goes:

We have 33 school days until Summer Vacation!  But here in MN, we're still waiting for Spring to show her lovely face-- check out my feet after school today: 

Yikes!  many inches of sloppy, heavy, wet snow.  I was caught off guard and my toes paid the price- ha.  

Back on the 1st official day of Spring, we made these adorable robins and I had to share!  My sister gave me this idea years ago...  they're so simple and cute and super Spring-y, don't you think?!  It's fun to see how the different eyes or positions of the wings can create such personalities.  :)

You just need 2 circle tracers... one bigger, one smaller.  Have kids trace and cut an orange and brown small circle (for the tummy and head) and 2 big brownies (for the body and the wings-- cut in half for the wings).   The beak, eyes, and feet were all free-handed by the kindergarteners.  We also made some robin eggs and wrote ING words all over them. 

  So there ya go!  Hope the weather is better where you are!  Happy Spring... eventually!  It can't be Winter forever, right?? :)

WANTED posters & POWER names!

Looking for a cool project to spice up your hallway or bulletin board?  

These WANTED posters are fun and easy to make.  I like to do this project around Open House or Conference time when I want my room/hall to look extra cute!  There are 2 parts: WRITING 

  

 and DRAWING (I like to guide them through the process-- ideas for things to have them do are included). 

 Check out some sweet finished products!...

 

If you want more details, writing sheets for boys and girls, and the drawing sheet, you can scoop it up at my TpT store today!   Brand new and hot off the presses!  Yee-haw!

 

Btw, have you ever heard of Power Names?  It's an awesome thing our school does, inspired by a guy named Larry Bell.  We associate a positive, strong adjective with each child's name... we choose one that begins with the same letter as their first initial because the alliteration makes it extra catchy!  You can see a few of mine in these pictures.  We use them to refer to the kids throughout the day and they LOVE it!  They really become what we call them... hard working, creative, kind, loving, leader, victorious!  Try it out and see what happens!  Do you have a jar of popsicle sticks with kids names on them?  Write them on there to remind yourself to use their power names!  It's an easy way for you to brag on your kids and what they do well and it really helps you build a relationship. 

All About Abe!

My class loved making the cherry shaped book about George Washington so I know they'll be excited tomorrow to create a book about Abraham Lincoln!  Abe's book comes in the shape of his famous stovepipe hat of course!

It's so simple, but it helps personalize the information and make it more memorable to the students.  Here are a few pics of pages from the book:

 If you're interested in scooping up this great project, it's only $2!  Grab it and go have some fun learning about our 16th President!  :) And if you want, you can even grab BOTH the Abe and George projects all whipped together in one nice DOUBLE DEAL and save even more!  Cheers!
 

The TRUTH about George Washington!

 

Brand new, on SALE, and just in time for President's Day!  

The perfect president's day activity... actually, TWO activities! Choose one or both!

Each child can create their own fact-filled cherries that can be displayed individually.

 

OR 

You can make a class book (shaped like a cherry!) filled with facts and illustrations about George Washington's life.  My kiddos did these pages today and they really impressed me with how awesome some of their drawings were!

This packet includes things to do and discuss before you do the project (like telling the story of the cherry tree!), title and picture of George for the cover of either project, blank cherries if you want kids to write their own facts and 27 ready-to-go REALLY INTERESTING, true facts about George Washington, and of course- detailed directions for how to do each project.

Besides everything contained in this packet, all you need is a little construction paper and you've created a really cool informational project (or 2) about our nation's 1st President!

So many options! Something for everyone! Happy President's Day! Thanks for stopping by!
 

The Important Book Project

Have you heard of The Important Book by Margaret Wise Brown?  It's super duper old and classic.  If you've never seen it or don't have it, I found the whole book online HERE.

It's especially cool though because of the pattern each page of the book follows.  It takes a regular thing (like a spoon, the wind, grass, a daisy) and tells the most important thing about it (in the author's opinion), then goes on to list 3 more great details, but comes back to re-state the most important thing.

SO how can you use this in your class?  How cool would it be to have kids write about "The Most Important Thing About Me!"  or "The Most Important Thing About My Family!"

These could be done at ANY time of year (beginning of the year, open house, graduation, just a regular ol day), and you could hang them up or make a class book or ??? but I think the family idea could also make a sweet holiday gift- Christmas or even Valentine's Day since it's all about LOVE... and who do our kids love more than their families?!  :)  So that was why I whipped this project out right now.  They're going to be Valentine's gifts for the parents.  Man, if my kids made something this cute, I'd definitely keep it forever!  I love kid-drawn family photos.  That has TREASURE written all over it.  :)

Want to grab the writing and drawing papers on sale?  Head on over to my TpT store and snatch em up cheap and have fun doing this project tomorrow!  I have several options for writing papers and drawing papers so you can have them all and choose the one you like best.

Check them out!  I was dying reading some of the sweet, funny things they said.  And didn't they do a good job with their family portraits?  I taught them how to fit everyone in by doing a little overlapping if necessary.  Anyway- here!  I'll pick out a few of the highlights:

I love this line:  "It's true that we are: BFF."

The most important thing about my family is that we: love each other!

It's true that we are: perfect!

oh my gosh, can you see this one??  How do you spell TV?  :)
We like to: wach tefe
too cute!

And it's true that this family is: smrt (with a backwards "s" and all!)  :)

Don't you think parents will love these forever?  oh my!  SO great!!

  

When I am 100 Years Old!

I am in LOVE with this project!
 
I just did it for the 13th year in a row in honor of the 100th day of school, and let me tell you- it never gets old!  Ha!  Even if your 100th day is a little bit past, you should still do it!  It's so fun!

And I promise you, everyone who walks through your hall and sees them is sure to comment on how hilarious they are.  At one of my old, old schools we had a very strict kind of mean-ish Principal who never filed or liked ANYTHING, but guess what?  She was freaking out, taking pictures of these and talking about them for months.  There is something about this project that is just THAT great.  :)

If you like it and wanna give it a whirl, grab all the instructions, brainstorming tools, and writing paper choices in my TpT shop for only a few bucks!  I used to just have my Kindergarteners write a few lines about being 100... but this year I tried a writing frame and I'm really happy with the results (you get both options and more in my packet)!

And for now, just sit back and gets  kick out of these funny, sweet 100 year old babes:  Oh, and if you don't read Kindergarten writing, I will translate for ya!

This little lady is going to probably eat lots of salad, live in her apartment and spend time with her grandchildren.  For fun, she'll go bowling with her old friends and she'll also wear glasses.

This granny likes to "jric cofe"  (drink coffee). :)

Eating lots of jello and relaxing in Arizona!

Playing BINGO and walking around with her cane.  Life is good! 

And when this little guy gets together with his friends, they're not doing anything wild and crazy.  They're just gonna "go ras"  (go rest).  Sounds good, buddy!