1) For a Mother's Day gift cut out flower petals from fun foam, have children paint craft sticks green. When sticks are dry children glue flower petals onto the sticks.  On one of the flowers glue a picture of the child in the center of the flower. Get 3" clay pots and let children paint these ,add clay or old playdoh to bottom of pot, stick flowers in clay and add moss if you want. Our moms last year really loved these. 2) Pins: paint and decorate (sequins, glitter, etc.)large puzzle pieces from an old puzzle, and we'll glue pin backs on the back.  We've also planted flowers, the other old stand-by.  Later, we'll have the kids decorate "flower-pots".  Last year we made plaster flowers using a cookie stamp, and glued them onto clothespins the kids had painted green, and glued magnet strips on so they'd be refrig. note-holders, but as Tiana said, these type of things are not creative for the kids.  A sure tip-off -- if done "right" they all look the same!! They are also a lot of work for the teachers!  One of my sons once made me a plaster handprint which he'd arranged sea shells around, so it was somewhat creative.  Another idea is to take photos of each child and have them decorate a photo frame with collage materials.  I think the nicest thing is to dictate what they love about their mom and let them decorate a card.  These are always "keepers". 3) One thing we do for our mothers on the Friday before Mother's day is provide them with a tissue corsage to take to work with them.  We generally have our 4 and 5 year olds and school kids make the flowers.  We buy the colored facial tissue that is 2 ply.  Fold the tissues in a fan, tie yarn around the middle and fluff them up.  I like to round the edges to make them prettier!!! 4) I just remembered a real cute easy Mothers day/Grandma's day gift.  You need a tuna fish can.  take the paper off and make sure it isn't sharp anywhere. You can hammer the inside rim a bit or ask people with that new kind of can opener (the kind that takes the whole top off and it isn't sharp) to do you can saving for you.  You want the kids to put elbow shaped macaroni all over the outside of the can.  There are big elbow shapes and small ones...either one is ok, or use both.  .  You can dye the mac before you glue it on, or I've also spray painted it gold and it looks real nice.  Depending on the age of the child, and how messy they like to get their fingers, either let them dip the mac into the glue and stick it on, or put glue on a small area at a time, (spread around with your fingers) and let them stick the macaroni on.  The craft glue or non washable kind works best, with much supervision, although I have used regular washable school glue and it's ok.   Then cut a piece of felt (child's choice of color) to fit inside bottom of can and it make a darling "thing holder"  ....for this thing or that thing....coins, jewelry, buttons,,,whatever. 5) Here's a mother day gift idea that I thought my children will love.  Have each parent bring in a white t-shirt.  Ask for them now as they will probably forget by Mother's Day.  Have the children put their hand prints this is hard to explain without drawing it...but one hand upward and the other hand print pointing down.  You then draw a circle in the middle....It looks like a little angel when you are through...and You can use fabric paint and write Mommy's Little Angel....Hope it works for you. 6) Brooches They turned out really nice!  You take a pill bottle (the small plastic kind) and put some crayon shavings in it.  Put it in the oven and let it melt down.  Hot glue a broach(sp?) pin to the back.  The kids thought it was really cool to watch the bottle shrink and the crayons melt!  Mom's were very impressed too! 7) Pin cushions Take a small babyfood jar. The older children used a nail & made 5 or 6 holes in the lids. Wash the jars & remove the labels & all the glue. The children filled the jars with porpourri & put on the lids. I cut a circle that is about 6 1/2 diameter using fabric with a tiny print.I cut about 10 different types of fabric designs so  my kids could pick the fabric that they wanted. I did the same w/the ribbon.I cut my fabric circle using pinking shears. After the jar is filled I let the children pick a fabric circle. They took a small handful of poly-fil & put it in the middle of the fabric circle. The child applys some tacky glue to the outside of the jar lid. I then put the  fabric w/the poly-fil over the jar & secure it on the jar w/a rubberband. You want to put the rubberband over the lid or just under it on the rim of the glass.Now you can adjust the fabric. I let my older kids tie on the ribbon over the rubberband. I also let  the children put 4 pins into the fabric top. I wrote on the bottom of the jar w/permanent marker name of the child. 8) MOM'S APPLE PIE (POTPOURRI AIR FRESHENER) MATERIALS:  POTPOURRI, SMALL PIE TIN, POM POMS, GOLD GLITTER, TAN FELT. PLUS: GLUE, SCISSORS, PENCIL, WAX PAPER. -Place your pie tin upside down on the tan felt. Trace the shape with your pencil and cut out the "pie crust" -Open your packet of potpourri. Don''t eat it! It smells better than it tastes! Pour it into the pie tin. -Fill up your pie tin with pom pom "apples" -Put a bead of craft glue around the edge of the pie tin and cover the pie with the felt crust -Place a sheet of wax paper on top of the crust and place a book on top until the glue dries.  Don't use a really heavy book, or you may end up with "applesauce". -When your pie is dry, decorate the top by drawing lines with glue and sprinkle with glitter Your pie is done! Doesn't it smell yummy?  Put it anywhere you'd enjoy the delicious aroma of fresh apple pie! 9) A Coupon With Verse for Mom You kept me safe when I was born. You kept me warm and fed. You picked me up and rocked me, and tucked me into bed. You taught me how to walk and talk and how to use the potty. You said you'd always love me even when I was being naughty. So now  i WANT YOU TO RELAX, SIT BACK-CUZ YOU NEVER DO. Because today is the day, that I take care of you. 10) Mother's Day Sachets   For each sachet we are using an 8x8-in. square of nylon netting (I got tons of it for basically nothing at a yard sale!), a large cotton ball, dusting powder, ribbon and small artificial flowers. Shake the cotton ball in a bag filled with the dusting powder.  Center it in the nylon net. Gather the net around the ball and tie with a ribbon.  Add a small artificial flower in the ribbon. An easy and cute sachet for Mom's drawer.  And the kids like it because it smells so good! This is inexpensive and cute.  Easy to store and easy for "Mom" to use. 11) Another Mother's Day Sachet W/Poem I cut out 8"x11" pieces of sheer netting. The children put in a handful of potpourri.We tied up the corners to make a pouch.Secure with a rubber band then tie a length of pretty satin ribbon around the sachet. Then we attached this poem:       This pretty bag of potpourri       Was made for you by little me.       In it there are leaves and flowers       That will smell sweet for many hours.       I helped cut the ribbon and lace       And tied it in a special place.       So keep it somewhere it can stay       To remind you of this Mother's Day!         I had the children write their names on the little card(the ones that couldn't I helped a little.) 12) Dear Mom, Here's a book of coupons To last you for a while.  I'll help you with your chores, ALWAYS WITH A SMILE! To thank you for all you do for me, And to tell you I Love You tremendously! 13) If you go to a big office supply store, life Office Max, you can purchase white 8x10 frames which are for transparencies.  They come in packages of about 50 and work great for picture frames to decorate.  I pick out a potpourri mix that has pretty dried flowers and such in pinks, magenta, and lavendar.  Then I have the kids sponge print magenta tempera paint that has a little white added to soften the color.  If you use a natural sea sponge it's really beautiful.  Then, they glue the potpourri all around the frame.  I also like including some bows that I pre-make out of magenta colored ribbon.  I just snip 1-1/2" sections of  the narrow ribbon with lace on the edges and criss-cross two pieces and glue them together, then include 1-4 of them on the collage tray with the potpourri.  I also include some silk ivy leaves, the kind that have magenta and white on them.  I just buy a sprig of them at the craft store (Ben Franklin or Michael's in WA) and snip them off the stem to include with the potpourri.  You will end up with gorgeous frames that smell good too. Then I get a handprint on paper with the same color I used for the sponge printing and frame the hand print with the finished potpourri frame.  The parents really treasure them and the kids love creating the frame.  Just for future reference, buying bags of potpourri is a really cheap way to get nature collage materials in a wide variety of colors. 14) Handprint Flower basket: I did this for my mom for mother's day last year.  On a tote bag, I made green handprints from my 3 kids, then made a basket by 2 diferent calico materials, ironing fusible web to the back and cutting out a basket shape.  I appliqued the basket onto the bag so that the hands looked like they were sticking up (fingers pointing up) out of the basket.  I them ironed fusible web to the back of a flowered material (geraniums) and cut the flowers out, then apliqued the flowers.  It looks cute, the fingers are the stems of flowers.  I have also done this with construction paper 15) We have made aprons for the moms for almost all occasions. I picked up some plain white (full aprons) at the fabric store and then we decorate them with glitter or their handprints, or iron-on designs that the kids have picked out. The kids love doing it and the mom's think it's great. The only problems is some of these kids are brothers and sisters so we don't have them both do them or the moms would have more than they could handle. One does the apron and one does oven mitts or pot holder...they are cute 16) This year for Mother's Day we are doing a portable herb garden and decorating the cartons with colored beads and colored macaroni....this is a first for us so I hope it turns out well.. 17) My dck's are making potpourri "jars" for moms this year.  I have saved enough formula cans from my dd.  The kids have decorated the sides of the can with sticky fabric (like contact paper, only it's fabric).  Then they decorated the lids (after I punched 6-7 holes in each lid) by gluing on buttons, beads and sequins.  Next week they will fill them with potpourri and wrap them in tissue paper and ribbons.  They look really great! 18) My mom can fix anything- by Kimberlee Graves this is one of those easy readers in the new learn to read series put out by creative teachers press. 19) Another one that I like is called Mom's Day Off- by Eugene Bradley Coco _ I have had this one for years it is a ready reader storybook. It is good as it talks about how the kids need to do everything for mom to give her the day off. 20) Is Your Mama a Llama? 21) Moths and Mothers, Feathers and Fathers (wonderful - about a baby owl and his parents, and the feelings he feels for his mother which at the end, he finally identifies as love-it's really cool) 22) Koala Lou - by Mem Fox (re: your mother loves you no matter what) 23) Mama Do You Love Me? 24) Just For You - by Mercer Meyer - This little critter wants to do lots of things for his mom but they never quite work out til the end - very cute! 25) Five Minutes Peace is one of my favorites to read for Mother's Day.  26) Also the Mother's Day Sandwich is another good one.  I do not remember the authors of these.  27) I'll love You Forever by Robert Munsch is great and will have you crying. 28) Here is a neat link for Mother's Day! http://www.gamesdomain.com/tigger/mom/index.html 29) Mother's Day Framed Picture Items Required: small puzzle pieces (from garage sales) tag board (or old cereal box) picture of child    1.  cut cardboard leaving 2 inches larger around the outside than        the picture.    2.  glue picture in center of board    3.  cover remaining cardboard with liquid glue and let the children        place puzzle pieces all around picture (overlapping a bit)       Children can also add puzzle pieces on top of each other to        get a 3-D effect.     4.  When finished have children cover all the puzzle pieces with      diluted glue. Children should not be putting the puzzle together, this is ment to be more scattered. 30) Mother's Day Story While the Good Lord was creating mothers, He was well into his sixth day of overtime.  Then an angel appeared and said,  "You're doing a lot of fiddling around on this one!" And the Lord said, "Have you read the specifications of this order? She has to be completely washable, but not plastic...Have 180 movable parts, all replaceable...Run on black coffee and leftovers...have a lap that disappears when she stands up...and a kiss that can cure anything from a broken leg to a disappointed love affair.  Plus she has to have six pairs of hands!" The angel shook her head slowly and said,  "Six pairs of hands!!?? Not possible!" "Oh,  its not the hands that are causing Me the problem," said the Lord.   "It's the three pairs of eyes that mothers have to have." "That's on the standard model?"  asked the angel. The Lord nodded.  "One pair that sees through closed doors when she asks,  'What are you kids doing in there?'  when she already knows...Another here in the back of her head that sees what she shouldn't, but what she has to know...And of course, the ones here in front that can look at a child and reflect, 'I understand, and I love you' without so much as saying a word." "Lord," said the angel touching His sleeve gently, "Get some rest. Finish this tomorrow." "I can't," answered the Lord.  "I'm so close to creating something so close to Myself.  Already I have one that heals herself when she's sick...can feed a family of six on one pound of hamburger...and can get a nine-year-old to stand under a shower." The angel circled the model of the mother very slowly and sighed, "But it's too soft!" "And yet she's tough!" said the Lord excitedly.  "You cannot imagine what the mother can handle or do!" "Can it think?" asked the angel. "Not only think, but it can reason and compromise!" answered the Creator. Finally the angel bent over and ran her fingers across the mother's cheek.  "There's a leak!" she pronounced.  "I told You, You were trying to put too much in this model!  You can't ignore the stress factor." The Lord moved in closer for a look and gently lifted the drop of moisture to His finger where it glistened and sparkled in the light. "It's not a leak," He said.  "It's a tear." "A tear?" asked the angel.  "What's it for?" "It's for Joy, Sadness, Disappointment, Compassion, Pain, Loneliness, and Pride." And the angel exclaimed, "You're a genius!" The Lord looked somber and replied, "I didn't put it there." 31) Decorative Bathroom Soaps Combine Ivory Snow powder (the laundry detergent) and water to make a dough. Be sure to add the water as you mix until you have a playdough like dough. Give each child a small helping of soap dough and allow them to make what they wish.  You can also use cookie cutters or molds.  We made soaps in different shapes for Mother's Day.  You can add food coloring to the water before mixing to create wonderfully colored soaps.    Just be sure to explain that this is soap and that the kids should be careful not to touch their eyes!! 32) Kitchen supplies and plain, clear soap are all you need to make luminous bars of soap. They can be any color you like. colors can also be layered in one bar..  natural additions make unusual, beautiful soaps. Try poppy seeds a spiral of citrus peel oatmeal, fragrant dried herbs, or a fern sprig. For molds use the bottom of a milk carton to make square soaps, or try a smooth sided tomato paste can for cylindrical shapes. Plastic chocolate molds also work.. Directions 1. Chop bars of unscented glycerin soap (Pure Pleasure works well) to yield 2 cups of one half inch chunks. Melt soap in a double boiler or microwave on high for one minute uintil melted completely.  Skim froth from top. Mix in tiny anmounts of liquid food coloring.  Blend colors as desired.     For scented soap add essential oils- natural scented oils the essence of the plant from which they are derived.  Can be found in specialty bath and beauty shops. 2. Brush chosen mold with more essential oil or with vegetable oil. Pour melted soap into mold and let stand until hardened, about 2 hours.  To make layers, pour one colored soap into a mold and let it harden for about 20 minutes.  Skim off any bubbles and pour another layer into the mold and let stand until hardened. The natural additions can be mixed into the melted soap or placed on top of one layer before adding another. 3. Remove the soap from the mold by rippimg away the milk carton, opening the can at the bottom and pushing out the soap or inverting the plastic mold and tapping the bottom. Hardened soapps can be cut into smaller bars. 33) Animal Cracker Pins Using a glue gun, attach safety pin back to each cracker. Pins can be purchased in quantities of 10 or 15 at your nearest craft store. After attaching the pin back, have children paint crackers using tempera or poster paint and polyurethane for a shiny coat. Simple and adorable.